Twitter users increase, revenue jumps by 37% to $1.28bn — despite ban in Nigeria

Twitter has recorded $1.28 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2021, representing a 37 percent increase over $936 million recorded in the corresponding period in 2020.

In June, the federal government suspended the operation of Twitter in Nigeria. But 145 days after the ban, Twitter has seen an increase in monetisable users and revenue. 

Since the ban, NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool (COST) estimated that the country’s digital economy dipped by N2 billion daily and could have amounted to N315.68 billion.

According to Q3 2021 financial statement released, Twitter generated $742 million in the United States, an increase of 45 percent, while international revenue stood at $542 million, an increase of 28 percent.

Twitter also reported that Japan remains their second-largest market after the United States, growing at 20 percent and contributing $159 million to the overall revenue.

The report also said the company’s total advertising revenue stood at $1.14 billion, an increase of 41 percent.

On the flip side, year-over-year growth for Q3 ad revenue slowed in comparison to Q2 2021.

Twitter’s key subscriber metric, monetisable daily active users (mDAU), hit 211 million in the quarter, up 13 percent from a year ago.

By region, US advertising revenue stood at $647 million, an increase of 51 percent compared to a year-over-year increase of 98 percent last quarter.

International ad revenue was $493 million, up 30 percent, which is 29 percent on a constant currency basis, compared to a year-over-year increase of 76 percent last quarter.

The company said it is projecting revenue between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion in the next quarter.