Overseas markets bring in more advertising revenue than the United States for Facebook, amounting to 51 percent of global ad sales in the first quarter, with growth in Asia the fastest in the world at 57 percent, company executives told Reuters.
While Facebook has reported regional growth in percentage terms, this is the first time it has detailed ad sales outside the United States and Canada as a percent of worldwide sales.
Like the advertisers it courts, the world's largest social media platform looks at international markets for growth.
"The next 1 billion consumers are going to come from these countries," said Carolyn Everson, vice president, global marketing solutions at Facebook.
Total advertising revenue for the quarter increased 46 percent to $3.3 billion, the vast majority of Facebook's $3.5 billion in quarterly revenue. Fifty-one percent of total ad revenue would be about $1.7 billion for international markets. International advertising revenue rose 36 percent from a year earlier, Facebook said.
While Europe is growing slower than the United States, the Asia Pacific region is ahead and a focus for Facebook.
Read More: 5 Reasons to be Friends With Your Mom on Facebook
By comparison, Google said that 57 percent of its revenue was from international markets in the first quarter, although it did not break out ad revenue specifically.