How Big Is Meta's Ad Business?

Meta’s annual report (Form 10-K) for fiscal 2025 lists advertising revenue of $196,175 million and total revenue of $200,966 million. Advertising is almost all of it: about 97.6%, by simple division. The same report says Meta currently generates substantially all of its revenue from selling advertising placements on its family of apps. These are Meta’s own figures, filed with the SEC.

How much advertising revenue did Meta report each year?

These figures come from Meta’s annual reports. Each row uses the report for that fiscal year, or the next report where it repeats the number.

Year	Advertising revenue ($ millions)	Change on prior year	Ad impressions	Average price per ad
2020	84,169	up 21%	up about 34%	down about 10%
2021	114,934	up 37%	up 10%	up 24%
2022	113,642	down 1%	up 18%	down 16%
2023	131,948	up 16%	up 28%	down 9%
2024	160,633	up 22%	up 11%	up 10%
2025	196,175	up 22%	up 12%	up 9%

The 2021 report also shows $69,655 million for 2019. From that to 2025 is about 2.8 times as much, by simple division. The 2022 row is the only year in this table where advertising revenue fell.

The 2024 report compares its 11% with a 28% increase in 2023, the same figure the 2023 report gave as the number of ads delivered. So the column is one series, even though the label changed.

What did Meta say drove the changes?

Meta’s explanations differ by year, and the filings call some of them beliefs:

• 2021: the report says the rise in average price per ad was mainly a recovery from the drop in advertising demand in the first two quarters of 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also says demand grew in part due to the continued growth of online commerce.
• 2022: the report says the price fall was driven by more ads delivered, especially in geographies and in products such as video and Reels that monetize at lower rates, and by an unfavorable foreign exchange impact. It also says Meta believes lower demand was primarily driven by reduced marketer spending from a tougher macroeconomic environment and by limits on its ad targeting and measurement tools arising from changes to iOS and the regulatory environment.
• 2025: the report says the price rise was driven by higher advertising demand, which Meta believes is mostly due to ongoing improvements to its ad performance from its targeting and measurement tools. It says online commerce was the largest contributor to the increase in advertising revenue.

If you advertise in online commerce, that last line describes your own category. Treat it as Meta’s reading of its totals, not a promise about your account.

Does Meta earn money from anything besides ads?

Yes, but it is small. The 2025 report shows “other revenue” in its Family of Apps segment of $2,584 million, and Reality Labs revenue of $2,207 million. It says the growth in other revenue was mostly driven by paid messaging from WhatsApp and Meta Verified subscriptions.

Meta’s January 2026 newsroom post says paid WhatsApp messaging crossed a $2 billion annual run-rate in the fourth quarter of 2025. The same post ends by referring to the millions of businesses that rely on Meta’s platform.

What do these totals mean for your own ad costs?

Less than they seem to. The filings report changes in ad impressions and average price per ad across Meta’s family of apps. They do not report what any one advertiser pays. The 2022, 2023 and 2025 reports each say the average price per ad is pulled down when more ads run in products such as Reels that monetize at lower rates.

So a company-wide price trend can move while your cost per result moves differently. Look at your own account’s cost per result over time, and compare periods you ran under the same objective and budget.

FAQ

Do these figures tell me what I will pay for ads?

No. They are company totals reported in Meta’s annual filings, so they cannot show what any one advertiser pays or gets. Use the filing for Meta’s totals, and use your own Ads Manager for your spend, cost per result and delivery.

Why did ad revenue fall in 2022?

Meta’s 2022 report shows advertising revenue down 1%. It says the average price per ad fell 16%, partly offset by 18% more ads delivered. It points to lower-priced placements, currency effects, a tougher economy, and limits on targeting and measurement from iOS and regulatory changes.

Where can I check these numbers myself?

Open the annual report linked in this entry’s sources and find the revenue by source table. Each report also has an Advertising section explaining the year’s change. Meta files a new report each year, so check the latest one for newer figures.