Whatsapp Worldwide Statistics: A snapshot of success

Despite increased competition, Meta-owned WhatsApp remains top dog of the messaging world thanks to its two billion active monthly users globally. That represents nearly 33% of the planet’s population with WhatApp’s nearest rival, Meta’s own Facebook Messenger, ‘only’ pulling in 1.3 billion users. Such success is reflected in every area of WhatsApp’s stellar growth since its inception in 2009:

• Downloaded over five billion times on iOS/Android
• Downloaded 13 million times in April 2021 alone
• Available in over 180 countries and in 60 languages
• 100 billion messages sent on the platform every day
• Used by 54% of millennials and over a third of baby boomers daily
• Generated an estimated $5-$10 billion in 2020
• That’s up from an estimated $0.2 billion in 2016.

According to data collected in October 2021, WhatsApp continues to dominate its direct competitors while snapping at the heels of social platform leaders YouTube and Facebook.

WhatsApp’s near parity with Facebook ensures that brands can combine the functionality of both platforms to service consumers more effectively at every stage of their journey. For instance, think Click to Chat in Facebook Ads that open up a WhatsApp-based conversation between the customer and the brand.

Though it has slipped from second place in 2020 to number four in 2021 overall, that’s in the face of social media channels (think Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok). It means WhatsApp remains the only dedicated chat channel to hold its own in the top five most popular apps globally.

WhatsApp continues to grow on different fronts. For instance, 65 billion messages were sent worldwide in 2018; this figure has exploded to 100 billion in 2020 with 4.2 billion messages sent per hour, 69 million per minute, and over 1.1 million per second.

Such popularity is great news for business as it means brands can target and meet prospects and existing customers on a social channel they already use extensively in their daily lives. Better still, WhatsApp offers brands access to vital markets whether based on age, ethnicity, location, or other key metrics.

That spread of green dominates the world map across many continents including Europe, Asia, Americas, Africa, and Oceania. It means WhatsApp is the number one messaging app in several leading economies, both globally and regionally, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Even in the US, the platform remains popular with 75 million users, only outperformed by Facebook Messenger.

India has the largest number with 390 million users — see below — followed by Brazil (108 million). Diving into age reveals astonishing results for the monthly percentage of WhatsApp users out of total Internet users aged 16-64: top users include 97% of Kenyans, 96% of South Africans, and 95% of Nigerians. In the West, the channel’s appeal is also significant especially in Spain (88%) and Netherlands (87%).

Africa

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in most African countries with significant penetration rates across the continent. For instance, 97% in Kenya, 96% in South Africa, and 95% in Nigeria. In Zimbabwe alone, WhatsApp accounts for nearly 44% of all the country’s mobile internet use.

USA

While WhatsApp was born in the USA, the States only had a modest 75 million users in 2020 but that figure is expected to hit nearly 86 million by 2023. More relevant to brands is WhatsApp’s usage rates across US ethnic groups. The latest available data from the Pew Research Center shows Hispanic Americans use the channel the most (46%) with African Americans on 23% and Caucasians on 16%.

India

India’s number of users comes in at a colossal 390 million (out of the country’s 680 million internet users). WhatsApp also recorded the biggest growth in downloads in the Google Play Store in India, climbing by 68% in the last quarter of 2020 with 30.13 million downloads.