What’s inside
Ramadan itself is typically when usage and adoption of online technologies reaches a crescendo in the Middle East, with many celebrating the Holy Month with their families and friends online. Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic drove some of this activity even further, as for the second year in a row Muslim communities found their traditional practises affected by restrictions to stop the spread of the virus.
Consequently, behavior mirrored that of 2020 in terms of many Muslims choosing to fast and worship from home until the Eid al-Fitr national holiday, making use of online (especially mobile) platforms to interact with their friends, families and communities. This led to a surge of app usage across the region during Ramadan in 2020 – but did 2021 push it to even greater heights?
In this report, we’ll examine a wide range of data across three distinct mobile verticals – eCommerce, finance and gaming – to uncover the impact of Ramadan on mobile usage in the Middle East in 2021, and provide some lessons for marketers looking to capitalize on what is sure to be another period of app growth in 2022.
