Revealed: Top 10 Instagram users in the UAE

Beauty bloggers and the royal family have the most followers

by Anjali Sudarsan

May 16, 2016

The use of popular social media sites Facebook and Twitter has been on a decline in Arab countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, a recent study found.

However, usage of photo sharing app Instagram has been growing in the last three years, the study by Northwestern University in Qatar found.

The study attributed the popularity of Instagram to the surge in smartphone ownership in the region, with the UAE having the highest per capita of smartphone users.

Read: Twitter, Facebook usage drops in Arab region – survey

“With the high smartphone penetration in the Middle East, these devices in our pockets have caused a shift in communication, from words to images. With 80 million photos posted to Instagram everyday, if something is happening, it’s likely to be posted on Instagram,” said Instagram’s brand development lead Amy Cole.

In the UAE specifically, the app boasts up to 1.72 million active users. And not surprisingly, the most popular users are beauty bloggers (a worldwide trend) and the royal family.

First on the list is beauty blogger Huda Kattan (@hudabeauty) who posts makeup tutorials and beauty inspiration pictures. In the second spot is Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum (@faz3) who offers followers a glimpse into his life.

Here are the top 10 Instagram users (excluding actors and singers) in the UAE, based on the number of followers.

1. Huda Kattan – @hudabeauty

13.3 million followers

Beauty blogger