These WhatsApp statistics and facts will introduce you to the app in more detail and provide you with better insight you always wish you had. WhatsApp is one of the most popular communication apps today. Whether you use it for business or merely for pleasure, you can’t deny the obvious quality of service this app provides. Yet, how much do you really know about WhatsApp?
So, keep on reading if you want to find out all there is to know about the green app!
Top 10 Must-Know WhatsApp Statistics & Facts
- WhatsApp is the third leading social platform in the world.
- About 100 billion messages each day are sent using WhatsApp.
- WhatsApp lost 30% of new downloads in January 2021 following the change of its Terms of Service.
- In 2022, there will be 3 billion WhatsAppers.
- India is the country with the most users, WhatsApp statistics for 2019 reveal.
- Americans counted the most iOS WhatsApp downloads in the world in 2021.
- Half of American WhatsAppers open the app multiple times a day.
- The median age of WhatsApp users is 36 years.
- There’s a 99% open rate on WhatsApp business messages.
- 13% of WhatsApp users in 2019 were using it to fortify their professional network.
Major WhatsApp Stats and Trends
Being the most popular direct messaging app on the planet also entails having the spotlight. Namely, social media experts evaluate the usage of WhatsApp quarterly to provide the latest figures from across the globe.
Let’s dive right into some of these!
1. By the number of active WhatsApp users in 2021, it’s the third leading social platform in the world.
(Statista) (Statista)
The latest info on the popularity of social media platforms reveals that as of January 2021, WhatsApp had 2 billion active users across the globe.
This makes it the third most popular application following Facebook (2.74 billion), and YouTube with 2.29 billion active users.
2. WhatsApp is the most popular mobile messaging app in the world, stats on WhatsApp monthly active users confirm.
(Statista) (Statista)
The mobile internet figures are jaw-dropping so the latest data show that WhatsApp remains the most popularly used messaging application in the world, outranking Facebook messenger by more than half a billion active users.
1.3 billion used Facebook Messenger in 2021, compared to 2 billion users of WhatsApp. WeChat is a close third with 1.2 billion users, and QQ mobile counted 600 million users. Additionally, Telegram and Snapchat were actively used by 500 and 498 million users, respectfully.
3. In 2022, there will be 3 billion WhatsAppers.
(Live Mint)
The analysis of WhatsApp users in the world from 2020 and 2021 shows the platform had 2.7 and 2.87 billion users, respectively. In 2022, the number of WhatsAppers is projected to reach 3 billion.
An enormous share of these will be held by WhatsApp messaging, with the application remaining at the leading position in the instant messaging market.
4. WhatsApp lost 30% of new downloads in January 2021 following the change of their term of service.
(The Independent) (App Figures)
Early in 2021 Tweets of Edward Snowden and Elon Musk suggested that users should use the messaging app Signal over WhatsApp.
The number of downloads dropped as a consequence of WhatsApp changing its Terms of Use. The new document requires users to share their chat data with Facebook, which is the cause for the plummeting number of WhatsApp users for the month.
Unlike the understandable policies made by the best privacy policy generators online, WhatsApp’s new privacy policy raised a lot of (security) dust with these unclear safety changes.
5. About 100 billion messages each day are sent using WhatsApp.
(Financial Express)
The use in messaging increased rapidly over time for WhatsApp. So, from 63 billion messages sent in 2017 and 75 billion in 2018, Nowadays, the number of messages delivered each day is over 100 billion.
WhatsApp Number of Users & Demographics
Like most free messaging apps, WhatsApp became even more popular during the pandemic. However, shifts and turns started to trouble the popularity of WhatsApp ever since the beginning of 2021.
So, who uses WhatsApp and to what extent? Read it all in the following stats!
6. Half of American WhatsApp users open the app multiple times per day.
(Statista) (Statista)
A recent Statista survey shows that 50% of American WhatsApp users in 2020 (September–December) actively used it a few times a day.
Furthermore, an astounding 78% of the survey respondents said they use the app weekly. The survey also showed that 91% of WhatsApp users in the US use the app on a monthly basis.
7. 54.5% of WhatsApp users were men, and 45.5% were female in 2021.
(Hootsuite)
Gender disparities are slowly disappearing. This is a positive trend of evening out the sharp gender disparities that existed in the past.
8. With 27%, 26 to 35-year-olds make up the largest demographic of WhatsApp users in the States.
(Statista)
At the end of 2020, 36- to 45-year-olds were the second largest age group by WhatsApp usage (20%). 15- to 25-year-olds, on the other hand, made 19% — a significantly bigger share than the 12% of all US WhatsApp users in 2019.
Over the same period, the 46–55 age group made up 17%. The 56+ age group makes up merely 13% of the US population using WhatsApp.
9. The median age of WhatsApp users is 36 years.
(MTA)(ET)
Experian found that 7 out of 10 WhatsApp users belong to the age group of 18 to 44 years. What’s more, data showed that 74% of Gen Zers used WhatsApp.
10. 13% of WhatsApp users in 2019 were using the platform to enlarge their professional network.
(Statista)
A 2019 Statista survey shows that for a vast majority of WhatsApp users, the app was a way to keep in contact with friends and family (82%).
That said, 10% were using it for entertainment, and 7% to get the latest info. Additionally, 4% said that they followed companies through their WhatsApp.
11. India counts the most WhatsApp users by country.
(Statista) (Live Mint)
In 2019, India had the most WhatsApp users in the world, reaching over 400 million by the end of July 2019. Brazil takes the second spot on the list with 99 million by August 2019, followed by the US with 68.1 million users.
Among the European countries, Germany leads the list with about 44 million users, followed by Italy with 32.9 million.
WhatsApp Statistics & Facts You Probably Read for the First Time
WhatsApp is the perfect IM app for contacting friends and family, but it can be so much more than that. The following stats prove it.
12. Australia is using WhatsApp to keep people updated about the ongoing pandemic.
(AGDH)
Companies aren’t the only ones taking advantage of WhatsApp channels. Aussie WhatsAppers can easily receive verified information about the ongoing pandemic and stay up-to-date with the latest news and measures their government has implemented to battle the notorious virus.
13. 30% of WhatsApp users in India used it to get informed about pandemic stats.
(NCBI)
WhatsApp was dubbed the primary source of misinformation in India during the surge in COVID-19 cases. So much so that a study was conducted to evaluate the connection between demographics and misinformation.
14. You can use WhatsApp Business or WhatsApp Business API, depending on how big your business is.
(Falcon)
Turning to WhatsApp Business as a way to communicate with customers is justified by the fact that the WhatsApp market share exceeds that of any other messaging app on the planet.
Also, WhatsApp Business API allows you to send notifications and updates to more customers. Both apps allow you to access your business statistics and gain more insight into your marketing campaign.
15. The average WhatsApp user checks it more than 23 times per day.
(Tyntec)
This stat in combo with the fact that about half of users check the app on a daily basis should be enough for businesses to use it as a way of communication with their customers.
16. WhatsApp business statistics reveal a whopping 99% open rate on messages.
(Telemedia Online)
Out of these, about 80% of WhatsApp business messages are opened within five minutes.
Users also stated that they answered more than 40% of the messages they received.
17. WhatsApp lets you add up to 256 people to one group chat.
(HootSuite)
WhatsApp users count in a group chat is limited to 256.
This is but one of many reasons businesses were attracted to WhatsApp so much. Broadcast lists being yet another — you get to send a message to every phone number you have saved. Once the person opens the message, it’ll show up as private chat rather than group chat.
WhatsApp Users by Country in 2020 and 2021
Several years behind, India was the biggest WhatsApp user, followed by Brazil and practically all of the South American countries. Did 2021 change anything? Read the latest info on which countries are WhatsApping more than ever.
18. More than 180 countries worldwide use WhatsApp.
(WhatsApp)
Although the app is popular, not everyone appreciates the advertisement-free and absolutely free application.
Namely, competition with local telephone companies and other reasons made several countries ban the platform. Today, WhatsApp is banned in China, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Cuba.
19. WhatsApp is the most popular instant messaging application in 58 countries, WhatsApp statistics for 2021 show.
(Similar Web)
In the January–March period, WhatsApp was the most popular IM app in 58 countries (out of 94 analyzed).
These include all the countries in South America, as well as Russia, India, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others.
The second most popular IM app was Facebook’s Messenger.
20. 81% of the British regularly use WhatsApp.
(Statista)
Statista’s WhatsApp statistics (2020) reveal that the platform enjoys enormous popularity. In comparison, 75% of the surveyed said they used Facebook Messenger, and merely 3% used Viber.
21. India counts 18.08 million new WhatsApp downloads via Google Play.
(Statista)
WhatsApp is rapidly taking Asia by storm. The proof? Well, the two countries at the top of the list of most downloads on Google Play are on the Asian continent, as per WhatsApp statistics for 2021.
That is, India had the biggest number of downloads of the app by the end of March (18.08 million), followed by Indonesia, with 8.02 million downloads.
Brazil and Mexico follow suit with 5.47 and 5.09 million downloads, accordingly. And the US sits at the 7th place on the list, with 2.99 million downloads.
22. Sweden marked the biggest jump of WhatsApp downloads at the beginning of 2021 from Android.
(Statista)
WhatsApp usage statistics by country for the period January–March 2021 reveal that the Swedish market is the fastest-growing. Namely, the number of downloads was 39.1% higher at the beginning of 2021 than in the months between September–December 2020.
Quarter-over-quarter, Android WhatApp users in Singapore rose by 21.5%, earning second place, before Hong Kong (third place) with a 14.8% increase.
23. 2021’s Apple Store WhatsApp stats show that Americans count the most iOS WhatsApp downloads in the world.
(Statista)
Just in the period from January to March 2021, WhatsApp was downloaded 28.3 million times to iOS devices.
Out of these, the biggest part — namely, 3.41 million — were downloads to iOS devices in the US. In contrast, Indonesia holds second place with 2.53 million downloads.
India and Mexico saw similar numbers of downloads ranking them both 3rd (2.4 million downloads).
24. France leads WhatsApp stats at the beginning of 2021, marking the biggest jump of Apple App Store downloads QoQ.
(Statista)
The number of WhatsApp downloads via the Apple App Store rose by almost 39% in France for the first quarter of 2021! Hence, we can safely assume that most of these are younger users, seeing how Apple is more appealing to Gen Zers and millennials.
Behind the French WhatsAppers, Sri Lanka users held second place with a 31% increase since the fourth quarter of 2020. Apple users of Malaysia and Poland also showed a significantly bigger interest in WhatsApp — namely, 22.1% and 22%, respectively.
Fun and Fast WhatsApp Facts
What makes a brand can also break it. For instance, WhatsApp was allegedly acquired by Facebook to eliminate market competition. However, it soon became clear that there’s more behind this acquisition than meets the eye.
25. The name of the app is actually a pun of the phrase “what’s up.”
(WhatsApp.com)
You’ve probably guessed this one yourself, but it’s an interesting piece of trivia nonetheless. What’s more, it was even confirmed on WhatsApp’s official “About Us” page recently.
26. Jan Koum, one of the founders of WhatsApp, statistics show, is now worth $10.3 billion.
(Business Insider) (Forbes) (Forbes)
Yet, he was not always so successful (nor lucky). Truly a “rags to riches story,” Jan grew up in Soviet-era Ukraine in a house without any running water. However, his luck turned once Facebook bought the app in 2014 for a mind-blowing $22 billion.
His friend and co-founder of WhatsApp, Brian Acton is only worth $2.6 billion.
27. WhatsApp statistics for 2020 marked exciting new features.
(Deccan Herald)
The new additions included animated stickers and QR codes. The first update aims to make the conversation more fun, whereas the second one eliminates the need to manually type in numbers when you want to add a new contact.
28. A particular WhatsApp exploit had the power to destroy the entire group’s chat history and crash the app.
(The Independent)
In fact, the exploit was so powerful that after the crash, people could no longer use their WhatsApp at all and were forced to reinstall the app.
What’s more, the group’s chat history would’ve been completely wiped out for all participants, making this exploit not only irritating but dangerous as well if it fell into the wrong hands.
29. More WhatsApp statistics and app trivia: 2 million users experienced a crash on July 15th, 2020.
(Republic World)
Due to its popularity around the globe, WhatsApp took a real blow when users from places like Egypt, the Netherlands, Germany, Kazakhstan, New Delhi, New York, Columbia, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, and Romania couldn’t connect.
Namely, 58% of users experienced connectivity issues, while 38% couldn’t receive or send messages; 3% couldn’t even log in to WhatsApp!
30. Facebook announced that they are working on their own cryptocurrency with WhatsApp as the payment system.
(NewsBytes)
The model through which WhatsApp revenue is generated still remains obscure, so this stat gives perhaps the biggest reason behind the $19.6 billion-worth acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014.
This was the last year where information on the gains of WhatsApp exists ($15.29 million).
Today, you can already transfer Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin through WhatsApp via an automated bot. Who knows, WhatsApp may well become one of the best ways to send money online.
FAQ
How do I see WhatsApp stats?
If you use WhatsApp for business, you can easily check your statistics to see just how much your audience is engaged and what their experience is like. By checking your stats, you gain an insight into how many messages were delivered, read, received, and sent.
All you have to do is open your WhatsApp Business, go to “more options,” select “business tools,” then go to “more options” again, and enter your stats.
How many people downloaded WhatsApp in 2020?
In February 2020, WhatsApp was downloaded 96 million times, and later on, in the fourth quarter of 2020, it reached 128.1 million times. Out of these, 98.5 million were Android, and 29.6 million were iOS downloads.
Is WhatsApp the most secure?
The statements of Edward Snowden and Elon Musk suggest that WhatsApp is not the most secure app for encrypted messaging. Earlier in 2021, both of them tweeted that using another, lesser-known app — Signal is better.
Even though the answer to the question: can WhatsApp send SMS to non-users, remains a definitive “no,” many have begun doubting their privacy safety because of the changing Terms of Use of WhatsApp.
It now requires the users to share data with Facebook. WhatsApp officials say that it won’t influence your privacy. In any case, even the WhatsApp team can’t intercept your private messages.
Nevertheless, this is what scared some WhatsApp users off and made them turn to similar messaging services.
Is WhatsApp dangerous?
WhatsApp officials ensure that the end-to-end encryption that the app uses is 100% safe, so the conversation cannot be intercepted in transit.
That said, once the message arrives on your phone, it can be a victim of malware that’s already there.
Also, Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov points out that what many forget is that the backups of their chats on cloud services are not encrypted, which makes them dangerous.
How many messages have I sent on WhatsApp?
If you don’t use WhatsApp for business, you can still check exactly how many messages you’ve sent via the app. All you have to do is go to the Settings tab and open the “Data and Storage Usage” panel. Go to “Storage Usage” and you’ll get a list of people you’ve been texting with.
Those at the top of the list are those you’ve texted the most. You can click on each name on the list and see exactly how many messages you’ve sent them.
Which country has the most WhatsApp users?
India has the biggest number of WhatsApp users as 487.5 million Indians have downloaded the app. The other countries are much behind. Brazil, for example, ranks second with “only” 118.5 million users, followed by Indonesia (84.8 million WhatsApp users) and the US (79.6 million Americans are using WhatsApp).
Conclusion
Hopefully, these WhatsApp statistics and facts made you more familiar with the app you love and use every day. If you haven’t used this messaging app before, perhaps the article has shown you just how beneficial it is.
In any case, whether you aim to reach distant friends and relatives or you think the app makes a perfect messenger platform for work, now you know how it all works and what makes the app so popular.
