Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
December 2024 - December 2025
Detailed observation of presented data
India’s Facebook Ads cost-per-click (CPC) profile sits far below the global benchmark, but the year told a lively story: a mid-year lift culminating in an August peak, followed by a sharp Q4 cooldown even as global CPCs climbed. Across all industries in India, CPC averaged about $0.17 over the past 13 months, versus roughly $1.14 globally — a persistent discount, with India tracking at just 8–25% of global levels depending on the month. Volatility in percentage terms was higher in India, with quick surges and fast retreats shaping the year’s rhythm.
This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for all industries in India compared to the global benchmark.
The India series displayed a classic mid-year lift: CPCs built from April ($0.14) into June–July (~$0.20), topping out in August ($0.27). September brought a reset ($0.19), and Q4 landed softer — October ($0.11) and November ($0.10) formed the trough, with a modest December uptick ($0.11). This pattern contrasts with the typical Q4 pressure seen in global CPC trends. Globally, costs eased into late Q3 (September low at ~$1.07) and then rose sharply into November ($1.32), a familiar holiday-season effect.
Two sharp inflection points defined India’s year: an August–September correction (~$0.08 drop) and another from September to October (~$0.08), marking the steepest back-to-back monthly declines. Earlier, the March-to-August climb delivered the longest sustained lift.
These Facebook Ads benchmarks highlight CPC trends for all industries in India and how they diverged from global patterns: mid-year strength, a pronounced Q4 cooldown, and consistently lower country-specific ad costs versus the worldwide average. Understanding CPC performance in India helps contextualize industry ad performance and compare it to global CPC analysis across the same period.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. Different industries see varying ad costs due to market competition, user demographics, and conversion value. For campaigns targeting India, advertisers should consider local market factors and user behavior. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
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October (Diwali), Late November (Black Friday/Cyber Monday), December (Christmas), July–August (Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi)
CPMs might spike significantly during Diwali, especially in electronics, apparel, jewellery, and gifts. Black Friday/Cyber Monday and December could drive elevated ad competition. State-specific festivals might see regional campaign spikes. Bank closures during holidays may push online shopping to cluster in end-of-week periods.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
Average cost per purchase benchmarks across industries
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