Middle East Social Media Benchmarks: Fashion Q2 2026

What’s in this report

In Q2 2026, Middle East fashion brands saw Instagram median post engagement rates approach 2.0%, while Facebook trailed at just over 1.0%. Retail led interaction share on both platforms regionally, with Fashion holding a modest slice (2.0% on Facebook, 3.9% on Instagram). Carousel and Reel remained Instagram’s top-performing organic formats, while on Facebook, Link posts unexpectedly outperformed video formats this quarter.

This quarterly benchmarks report pulls from Emplifi’s dataset of 240 Facebook pages and 238 Instagram profiles across Middle East, covering April 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026.

User-generated content: what’s achievable

Brands using Emplifi’s UGC solution this quarter saw:

• 8.02x increase in conversion rate
• 4.31x increase in website visits
• 1.01x increase in average order value

These figures represent the median uplift seen across Emplifi’s Fashion UGC Accounts Benchmark for Q2 2026 (Fashion has its own dedicated UGC benchmark slide, distinct from the generic Brands UGC benchmark used for smaller verticals).

Organic performance: Facebook and Instagram

Interaction share by industry

On Facebook, Retail accounts for 19.5% of total brand interactions — the highest share of any category. On Instagram, Retail also leads with 18.9% of interactions. Fashion itself holds a smaller slice: 2.0% of Facebook interactions, and the 7th-highest share on Instagram at 3.9%.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Platform landscape at a glance

In Middle East, Instagram brand profiles carry a higher median follower count than Facebook pages for Fashion. The underlying chart (a bubble/circle visualization) does not print exact values, so the figures below are shown qualitatively rather than as fabricated numbers.

Activity volume on both platforms is roughly comparable, while user engagement on Instagram outpaces Facebook.

Median post interactions

Median post interactions track the middle-ranked page or profile by monthly interactions — a measure of typical performance rather than outlier peaks.

Instagram median post interactions trended downward over the past year, sliding from around 28 in mid-2025 to roughly 17 by early 2026 before recovering slightly to around 21 by Q2 2026. Facebook median post interactions held low throughout, easing from about 5 to roughly 3 over the same period.

Relative median post interactions

Relative median interactions index each platform’s performance against its own peak over the reporting period, making it easier to compare directional trends across platforms regardless of absolute scale.

By Q2 2026, Facebook’s relative median interactions had settled at around 60% of its year-ago peak, while Instagram sat slightly higher at roughly 70% of its own peak, after both platforms converged near their respective highs in mid-2025.

Median post impressions

Impressions measure how many times posts were displayed, regardless of interaction. This metric is available for both platforms and reflects reach rather than engagement.

Instagram impressions climbed sharply through 2025, peaking at around 11,500 in November before declining steadily to approximately 3,300 by Q2 2026. Facebook impressions stayed low and comparatively flat throughout, ending the period at around 1,500.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~2.0%
• Facebook: ~1.1%

Instagram engagement rates held mostly steady in the 1.4%–1.8% range for most of the past year before climbing to nearly 2.0% in Q2 2026. Facebook engagement stayed close to 0.5%–0.7% for most of the period before rising to just over 1.0% by Q2 2026.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Unlike the typical regional pattern, Live Video and standard Video did not lead organic performance for Fashion in the Middle East this quarter — the extracted chart shows no measurable Live Video sample at all for this segment (insufficient data), and standard Video generated just 2 median post interactions. Instead, Link posts led all Facebook formats with 25 median post interactions, followed by Reel at 3.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 30 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 28.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 62% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 30% by Q2 2026. On Instagram, Reels, Images, and Carousels each account for roughly a third of posts published, with Reels and Carousels driving the majority of top-performing content.

Top performing pages and profiles

Facebook — top pages by total interactions (Q2 2026):

Instagram — top profiles by total interactions (Q2 2026):

Top posts this quarter

The highest-performing individual posts by interactions across Middle East brands in Q2 2026:

Facebook:

Instagram:

How does your brand compare?

These benchmarks reflect median performance across thousands of brands in Emplifi’s dataset. Get a free personalized assessment to see exactly where your brand stands today.

Get your free social media assessment →

Paid performance: Facebook and Instagram ads

Where brands are spending

The majority of paid spend for Middle East brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and IG instagram stories. Spending on FB feed is 8.9 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Middle East brands this quarter:

• Lowest CPC: FB feed, FB facebook reels, and IG instagram stories
• Lowest CPM: FB facebook reels, IG instagram reels, and FB feed

CPC and CPM by placement (Q2 2026):

Click-through rate by placement

Within the Middle East brands benchmark, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.99%, compared to IG feed at 1.45%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Middle East:

Note: this deck includes both a Fashion-specific ad account breakout and a region-wide (Middle East) ad account breakout, so the “Brands benchmark” column below reflects Fashion-specific figures and the “Middle East overall” column reflects the region-wide figures.

Fashion-specific CPC held in the $0.18–$0.23 range for most of the past year, dipping to around $0.16 in January 2026 before settling near $0.17 by Q2 2026 — consistently about double the region-wide figure, which stayed flat around $0.08–$0.10 throughout. CPM followed a similar pattern: Fashion CPM ranged from roughly $2.10 to $3.05, ending Q2 2026 at about $2.60, versus a flat $0.65–$0.90 for the region overall. CTR for Fashion brands trended upward across the period, ending around 1.6%, compared to a steadier 0.8%–1.0% for the region overall. Note: the underlying trend chart itself labels the region-wide comparison line “Asia” rather than “Middle East” — likely the same labeling artifact noted above, since every other slide in this deck is scoped to the Middle East — so that comparison line has been treated here as the Middle East regional benchmark.