Deloitte: Facebook added $6.6bn to the UK economy in 2014
Facebook added $227bn (£149bn) to the global economy in 2014, according to a Deloitte and Touche report commissioned by the social media giant.
Although Facebook only generated revenue of $12bn (£7.9bn) in the financial year, the report calculates all the economic activity “enabled” by the social media platform.
These include businesses with pages on Facebook, apps and games based on the platform, as well as the demand for online services which Facebook generates.
The report claims that over 4.5m jobs around the world are supported by Facebook, including 154,000 in the UK where Facebook has made an economic impact worth $6.6bn (£4.35bn).
Unsurprisingly, it’s the US which has felt the biggest economic impact with 1.2m jobs and $104bn added to the economy. How much of that is limited to Silicon Valley is not detailed.
Jolyon Barker, Deloitte’s global managing director of technology, media and telecommunications, commented:
Our study finds that Facebook enables significant global economic activity by helping to unlock new opportunities through connecting people and businesses, lowering barriers to marketing, and stimulating innovation.
The report details how the economic impact of the tech business is not limited to the technology sector itself, but it is beneficial to many sectors.
Deloitte’s report states:
Businesses also benefit when people share links to their websites with their friends. Sharing of links can have significant effects on sales and fundraising.For example, Facebook helped spread awareness about the “Ice bucket challenge” initiative that raised $100m in donations to fund research for the cure of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS].…By using these marketing tools to reach their customers, businesses can increase sales locally, nationally, and globally and generate significant economic impact, no matter their size, location, industry, or technical sophistication.