Nigeria and Turkey Biggest Adopters of Crypto in 2024

Looking into the rate of crypto adoption and the share of cryptocurrency owners in 56 countries as of February 2024, Nigeria and Turkey lead the pack, according to data from Statista.

Notably, selected North American and European countries rank significantly lower. The data was gathered by the Consumer Insights Global Survey of Internet users worldwide.

It includes over 2 million participants from selected countries. More specifically, the survey period was January to December 2023. There were between 451 and 10,048 respondents (18-64 years) per country. The question asked in the survey was:

“Which of these financial products and investments do you currently use/own?”

Multiple answers were possible.

The top five countries per share of crypto owners span across three continents.Notably, Nigeria and Turkey lead the ranking. The two countries have grabbed a 47% share each.

This is nearly half of their respective populations. Turkey and Nigeria are closely followed by Thailand, with 43% of the population holding crypto tokens.Entering the 30%-40% territory – and completing the top five countries – the survey finds Vietnam in fourth place (39%) and the UAE in the fifth (31%).

Next, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the Philippines, Switzerland, and Colombia (in that order) took the 29%-20% share. Going lower, the United States is 20th on the list with 18%.

South Korea saw 17%, Australia 16%, and the United Kingdom took the 35th spot with 14%. Meanwhile, Japan had the lowest share of respondents, grabbing just 6%.

Observing continents overall, Africa is home to the fewest countries with significant crypto adoption. But, at the same time, it also has one of the two countries with the highest share.

South America, on the other hand, has shown higher rates of adoption compared to other continents.

Elsewhere, while the adoption is more spread out, there are fewer variations share-wise between individual countries.

There are several highly complex elements that have proved to be vital when it comes to rate and speed at which a region adopts cryptocurrencies. These include socio-economic circumstances (even geo-political ones in certain cases)