Facebook claims it added £2.2bn to UK GDP in 2011

By James Ashworth

Facebook has long prided itself on bringing individuals closer together but now the social media giant claims it has made us all richer too, with a total of £2.2bn.

Attaching this monetary value to the increase it's operations give to the economy, Facebook’s director of policy in Europe, Richard Allan, said his firm had provided a “significant boost” to 2011 GDP.

In an interview with Media Week, Allan said: "Businesses get a significant boost when they market their services on Facebook and it will enable them to communicate with loyal consumers on a daily basis and act as word of mouth marketers."

Allan based his claims on a report compiled by financial firm Deloitte which came up with the £2.2bn figure alongside claims that Facebook’s growth and that of mobile apps had supported 232,000 jobs.

Facebook also recently announced an ‘Ad boost’ scheme whereby it will give away £4.2m worth of free advertising to small businesses in the EU. But, it has not been specified when theis sceme will begin.

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