With Facebook (FB) user growth making headlines since the latest earnings release— and Elon Musk questioning the methodology used to estimate the percentage of fake Twitter accounts— it’s notable that Facebook’s recent user growth is being driven, in part, by countries where fake accounts often originate.

The number of duplicate and fake accounts have remained remarkably consistent over the past 5-years.

In 2017, Facebook estimated duplicate accounts were approximately 10% of MAUs & fake accounts were 3-4% of MAUs. In 2018, Facebook cited an increase in both, estimating duplicate accounts were 11% and fakes were 5%. The 2018 estimates haven't changed in the past 3-years despite significant MAU growth in Asia and Rest of World (ROW) where Facebook says fake accounts more frequently originate.

In the latest quarter, MAUs grew 3%. India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam represented the top three sources of growth. Facebook specifically calls out Indonesia and Vietnam as countries where fake accounts often originate.

Despite MAU growth being driven by countries where fake accounts are more prevalent, Facebook did not update its estimate of duplicate or fake accounts as a percentage of total MAUs.