This report is brought by Narratiive and in partnership with the PRC and BMIT. 

The IAB South Africa aims to empower the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership is comprised of more than 150 leading media companies, brands and technology firms. 

The non-profit, non-government, trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, publishers and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing.

"In this regard, we recognise the importance of better understanding our online audiences and, in particular, the digital consumer scale across demographics and behavioural insights that can be derived across audience segments," says the IAB.

"2020 was a huge growth year for digital in South Africa. Social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic meant that digital had to become part of our everyday lives. The online world entrenched itself into our lives and we believe these changes are here to stay," says Greg Mason, regional lead for sub-Saharan Africa at Narratiive.

"From January 2020 to April 2020, we saw a massive 26% increase in page views due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Additionally, home Internet access in addition to a mobile phone increased by 10% from 2019 to 2020. These stats and many more talk to expedited adoption of digital in almost everyone's lives," concludes Mason.

Not only does the report establish a demographic foundation; but also reaffirms the heightened digital consumption that has been noted as a global trend, since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. The report further reveals the impact of the pandemic, on the ways that South Africans connect, communicate and consume content.

For more information, visit www.iabsa.net. You can follow IAB South Africa on Facebook or on Twitter.