X has seemingly been hesitant in reporting its latest EU user figures, as required by the Digital Services Act (DSA), with its most recent update coming this week, nearing the end of the reporting period.
And now we know why, with the platform seeing a 10.5% decline in EU users since August last year.
As you can see in this chart, as per X’s EU reporting, the platform has lost 11 million European users since its last report.
X saw its biggest decline in usage in France, down 2.7 million users on its last report, followed by Poland (-1.8m), Germany (-1.3m) and Spain (-1m).
Though in percentage terms, overall X usage in both Lithuania and Luxembourg has declined a whopping 25% in terms of total users, while Poland’s total user count has dropped by 20%.
Those are massive declines, and again, it makes sense why X wouldn’t want to share them publicly, which may be why it’s seemingly delayed doing so for as long as it can.
The data doesn’t bode well for the platform’s ongoing viability, and value as a news and information tool. To be clear, X still has over 500 million monthly active users, but then again, these official insights do also make it seem unlikely that X is gaining users, as owner Elon Musk recently reported.
In announcing that X would be acquired by xAI, his AI startup, Musk claimed that X now has 600 million monthly active users, up from the 570 million MAU that Musk reported back in July.
So somehow, X has lost 11 million users in Europe, and re-gained that, and more, in other regions?
That seems unlikely, especially with X also losing users in the U.K., following Musk’s “civil war is inevitable” comments last August.
If the U.K. has followed similar trends to EU usage, then X is clearly seeing a broad decline, which it couldn’t be recovering in usage in other markets. X has also reported that it’s been sitting on 250 million daily active users since November 2022, and in combination, it’s difficult to see how X could have lost such significant numbers in regions where it has to report official, verifiable numbers, while also adding millions more monthly users.
Essentially, the data suggests that X is losing audience, and is in fact down 15% on overall European usage since Elon Musk took over at the app.
We don’t know what the decline is in other regions, because as a private company, X is no longer obligated to report such publicly. But it seems likely that X is also seeing usage declines in other markets, despite Musk’s assurances.
So what does that mean for the platform overall?
Well, from an operational perspective, probably not much, considering that xAI is now able to funnel funding through to the app to help prop it up, even if it can’t get its ad business back on track. A declining audience doesn’t bode well for ad spend, but with xAI raising billions in funding, X looks set to have found another way to remain solvent for some time yet.
From an influence and relevance perspective, however, this is not good.
Elon Musk has used the platform as his personal megaphone, as he seeks to interject into local elections around the globe, in pursuit of his own agenda, whatever that may be. But if fewer people are using the app, he loses traction on that front, which could also make it a less valuable investment over time.
Though it seems to have gained Musk significant power in the U.S. either way, and maybe that alone is worth the $44 billion he paid for it.
Either way, if you were wondering whether X is actually gaining traction, and whether Musk’s reformation of the app is actually catching on, these numbers suggest that it remains in steady decline.
Though there is one positive note from X’s EU disclosure: X has added 211 content moderation staff since last report.
Community Notes has been its key focus on this front, but clearly, X has found that it still needs to maintain better staffing levels to meet its safety obligations.