Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Social Media
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many social media accounts their Department operates; and how much their Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.
Answered by Catherine West
The Government communicates across a range of media channels to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.
Social media is an essential part of government communication and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) central communication team operates 15 active social media accounts for the department including foreign language and travel advice. We will spend £293.77 on subscription to X Premium+ in 2025. We report no spend on social media subscriptions in the preceding two years.
The below table captures social media advertising spend in support of key campaigns run by the FCDO central communication team from 2022 - 2025, broken down by platform.
Year | Meta | Snapchat | YouTube | Total | |||
2022 | £7,588.16 | £7,588.16 | |||||
2023 | £129,940.59 | £22,554.69 | £102,625.31 | £23,970.91 | £59,940.06 | £339,031.55 | |
2024 | £983,847.59 | £717,368.33 | £39,331.73 | £52,648.02 | £9,989.19 | £9,990.01 | £1,813,174.88 |
2025 | £123,000.00 | £111,999.76 | £234,999.76 | ||||
Total | £1,244,376.34 | £851,922.78 | £141,957.05 | £76,618.92 | £9,989.19 | £69,930.07 | £2,394,794.35 |
Our global network operates their own social media accounts, subscriptions and advertising locally to support bilateral relationships and international delivery of the Government's missions. Some FCDO policy teams also use social media to engage their audiences.
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