--- title: "COVID-19 Report: Lockdown drives increased social media usage" description: Middle East consumers turn to digital channels during COVID-19 crisis --- [Skip to content](https://dataeq.com/resources/reports/lockdown-drives-increased-social-media-use-saudi-arabia-uae/#main-content) [![DataEQ Logo](https://dataeq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20DARK%20BACKGROUND.png?width=120&height=43&name=DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20DARK%20BACKGROUND.png)](https://dataeq.com/) - [About](https://dataeq.com/about-us) - Solutions Show submenu for Solutions - [Marketing](https://dataeq.com/solutions/marketing) - [Risk & Compliance](https://dataeq.com/solutions/compliance-and-risk) - [Customer Experience](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-experience) - [Customer Service](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-service) - Data Labels Show submenu for Data Labels - [Sentiment](https://dataeq.com/labels/net-sentiment) - [Topics](https://dataeq.com/labels/topics) - [Finfluencer](https://dataeq.com/labels/finfluencer) - [Conduct](https://dataeq.com/labels/conduct) - [Risk](https://dataeq.com/labels/risk) - [Journey](https://dataeq.com/labels/journey) - [Channels](https://dataeq.com/labels/channels) - [Priority](https://dataeq.com/labels/priority) - [Vulnerability](https://dataeq.com/labels/vulnerability) - Resources Show submenu for Resources - [Reports](https://dataeq.com/resources/reports) - [Quarterly Insights](https://dataeq.com/quarterly-insights-reports) - [Case Studies](https://dataeq.com/resources/case-studies) - [News](https://dataeq.com/resources/news) - [Knowledge Base](https://dataeq.com/knowledge-base) - Agentic AI Show submenu for Agentic AI - [AI Agent](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-agent) - [AI Agent Assessment](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-customer-service-assessment) - [What is DataEQ's AI Agent?](https://dataeq.com/what-is-the-dataeq-ai-agent) - [DataEQ Consulting](https://dataeq.com/consulting) - [Careers](https://dataeq.com/careers) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [About](https://dataeq.com/about-us) - Solutions Show submenu for Solutions - [Marketing](https://dataeq.com/solutions/marketing) - [Risk & Compliance](https://dataeq.com/solutions/compliance-and-risk) - [Customer Experience](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-experience) - [Customer Service](https://dataeq.com/solutions/customer-service) - Data Labels Show submenu for Data Labels - [Sentiment](https://dataeq.com/labels/net-sentiment) - [Topics](https://dataeq.com/labels/topics) - [Finfluencer](https://dataeq.com/labels/finfluencer) - [Conduct](https://dataeq.com/labels/conduct) - [Risk](https://dataeq.com/labels/risk) - [Journey](https://dataeq.com/labels/journey) - [Channels](https://dataeq.com/labels/channels) - [Priority](https://dataeq.com/labels/priority) - [Vulnerability](https://dataeq.com/labels/vulnerability) - Resources Show submenu for Resources - [Reports](https://dataeq.com/resources/reports) - [Quarterly Insights](https://dataeq.com/quarterly-insights-reports) - [Case Studies](https://dataeq.com/resources/case-studies) - [News](https://dataeq.com/resources/news) - [Knowledge Base](https://dataeq.com/knowledge-base) - Agentic AI Show submenu for Agentic AI - [AI Agent](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-agent) - [AI Agent Assessment](https://dataeq.com/agentic-ai-customer-service-assessment) - [What is DataEQ's AI Agent?](https://dataeq.com/what-is-the-dataeq-ai-agent) - [DataEQ Consulting](https://dataeq.com/consulting) - [Careers](https://dataeq.com/careers) Request a demo # Covid-19 Report: Lockdown drives increase in social media usage \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ #### 2020 ### Consumers in Middle East turn to digital channels during Covid-19 crisis Covid-19 lockdown measures have been driving an increasing number of Saudi and United Arab Emirates (UAE) consumers online to purchase products and services, and lodge customer service queries across a number of industries. DataEQ has observed similar trends across a number of markets, as the closure of physical stores and under-resourced call centre teams force customers to seek help on digital channels. ### UAE social media volumes increased by around 10% in March after Covid-19 measures were put in place Social media conversation increased by ~10% from February to March following the announcement of the first Covid-19 case in the UAE. After the implementation of lockdown measures, telcos conversation had the biggest increase when compared with banking and supermarket retail. ### Saudia Arabia’s social media volumes increased by ~100% in March as travel bans, mosque closures and curfews were implemented. Social media conversation increased by ~100% in March following the announcement of the first Covid-19 case in Saudi with further spikes occurring following the implementations of travel bans, closures and curfew. During this time, Saudi banks saw the highest increase in consumer conversation volumes out of the three industries analysed. All industry conversation volumes decreased in the first week of Ramadan except for Saudi banking-related conversation. ![Request a demo](https://hubspot-no-cache-eu1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/25676464/interactive-91269028805.png) --- ###### [View full report library](https://dataeq.com/reports) --- Label your data with confidence and safety ![ISO IEC 270012022 Logo-1](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/ISO%20IEC%20270012022%20Logo-1.png) ![gdpr-logo](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/gdpr-logo.svg) ![popia-logo](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/popia-logo.svg) ![pdpl-logo](https://dataeq.com/hubfs/pdpl-logo.svg) ***About us***   [Our company](https://dataeq.com/about-us) [Contact us](https://dataeq.com/contact-us) ***More info***   [Careers](https://dataeq.com/careers) [News](https://dataeq.com/resources/news) ***Privacy***   [Privacy policy](https://dataeq.com/privacy) [Privacy policy UK](https://dataeq.com/privacy-uk) [Terms & conditions](https://dataeq.com/terms-and-conditions) ***Let's connect***   [contact@dataeq.com](mailto:contact@dataeq.com) ***Login***   [Analyse](https://analyse.dataeq.com/api/login) [Engage](https://engage.dataeq.com/) [![DataEQ\_Logo\_FOR USE ON LIGHT BACKGROUND.png (1)-1](https://dataeq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20LIGHT%20BACKGROUND.png%20(1)-1.png?width=100&height=35&name=DataEQ_Logo_FOR%20USE%20ON%20LIGHT%20BACKGROUND.png%20(1)-1.png "DataEQ_Logo_FOR USE ON LIGHT BACKGROUND.png (1)-1")](https://dataeq.com/) Copyright © 2026, DataEQ