Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
December 2024 - December 2025
Detailed observation of presented data
South Africa’s Facebook Ads cost-per-click tells a story of low baseline costs with outsized swings. Across all industries, CPCs in South Africa averaged 0.22 over the last 12 months, versus a 1.14 global benchmark—about one-fifth of worldwide levels. The year opened with elevated Q1 pricing, fell sharply into a deep Q3 trough, and then rebounded through early Q4. The standout moments: a brief surge around February–March, an extreme low in July–September, and a strong lift into November.
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 South Africa compared to the global benchmark.
South Africa’s CPC began at 0.154 in December 2024 and ended at 0.282 in November 2025, an 83% rise end-to-end. The period peaked at 0.398 in March and bottomed at 0.049 in July. The average came in at 0.22, with seven of twelve months printing below that mark.
Month-to-month, the data moved in distinct waves:
Volatility averaged 0.08 points per month—steeper swings than the global series. In relative terms, that’s a 36% monthly move against South Africa’s own mean, underscoring a more elastic market.
Seasonally, the pattern splits into three acts:
Globally, CPCs stayed tight between 1.07 and 1.30, dipping from mid-year into September before a November lift.
Relative to Facebook Ads benchmarks worldwide, South Africa remained significantly below market throughout:
From start to finish, the global trend was relatively flat (+1% from December to November), while South Africa’s path was choppier and net higher (+83%) due to the mid-year dip and Q4 rebound.
In short, Facebook Ads CPC trends for all industries in South Africa show structurally lower costs than the global benchmark, amplified by sharper seasonal troughs and rebounds. Understanding these country-specific ad costs and CPC trends provides a clear reference point for evaluating industry ad performance and global comparisons for South Africa.
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 South Africa, 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.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
Late November (Black Friday/Cyber Monday), December (Christmas & Day of Goodwill), Mid-year retail (June Youth Day promotions)
CPM and CPC might rise during long weekends like Human Rights Day, Freedom Day, and Heritage Day as leisure and travel-related media consumption increases. Retail CPMs may spike in late November–December for holiday shopping. Youth Day and National Women's Day might drive regional campaigns. Weekend extensions across public holidays may benefit weekend campaigns.
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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