In a previous article, we’ve already seen how Pinterest’s financial data isn’t exactly up to snuff with what you’d expect from a top-tier social media platform.
Quite the opposite, Pinterest has been operating at a loss for most of its history. Only recently have some profitable quarters emerged. The company may yet turn over a new leaf.
But today, I’ll be looking at Pinterest’s user base throughout the years, both the global audience and country-based statistics. We’ll also see the MAU (monthly active users) for the company and draw some conclusions.
Without further ado, let’s get going!
20 Countries with the Most Pinterest Users in January 2023
I’m using data from Statista, which is as recent as January 2023, so it’s fresh and up-to-date. You’ll see which countries have the most Pinterest users and how the audience is split, country-wise.
Let’s see the chart (plus this one):
| Country | Number of Pinterest Users | Penetration Rate |
| United States | 84.6 million | 29.4% |
| Brazil | 28.05 million | 15.7% |
| Mexico | 19.45 million | 19.2% |
| Germany | 15.88 million | 21.7% |
| France | 10.65 million | 19.3% |
| Canada | 8.44 million | 25.2% |
| Italy | 8.08 million | 15.3% |
| United Kingdom | 7.61 million | 13.2% |
| Argentina | 7.09 million | 19.4% |
| Spain | 7.01 million | 16.7% |
| Japan | 6.93 million | 6.2% |
| Colombia | 5.97 million | 14.1% |
| Poland | 5.42 million | 15% |
| Netherlands | 4.43 million | 29% |
| Chile | 3.57 million | 21.6% |
| Australia | 3.45 million | 15.5% |
| Belgium | 2.69 million | 26.8% |
| Portugal | 2.06 million | 22.6% |
| Romania | 2.01 million | 11.6% |
| Greece | 1.84 million | 20% |
As you can see, the US holds most of the world’s Pinterest users (as much as Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France, and Canada combined).
Most European countries have under 10 million Pinterest users, and some have under 5 million users. Belgium, Portugal, and Romania have under 3 million Pinterest users.
This goes to show that the app has never gained too much traction outside the US and a few key European countries like Germany and France.
This is one of the causes of Pinterest’s financial destitution, clearly. The company has to do something and expand outward.
The penetration rate is also the highest in the US but other countries come pretty close. Canada, Portugal, Belgium, Chile, Greece, and Germany have penetration rates above 20%.
Next up, we’re going to look at the monthly active users worldwide!
Pinterest Monthly Active Users Worldwide Q1 2016 – Q4 2022
This is where it becomes clear whether Pinterest has been growing in terms of userbase or not. The company’s MAU is one of the best indicators of healthy user growth or stagnation.
Here’s the chart:
| Period | Monthly Active Pinterest Users | % Increase/Decrease |
| Q1 2016 | 128 million | |
| Q2 2016 | 135 million | +5.46% from last quarter |
| Q3 2016 | 150 million | +11.11% from last quarter |
| Q4 2016 | 160 million | +6.66% from last quarter |
| Q1 2017 | 175 million | +9.37% from last quarter |
| Q2 2017 | 185 million | +5.71% from last quarter |
| Q3 2017 | 204 million | +10.27% from last quarter |
| Q4 2017 | 216 million | +5.88% from last quarter |
| Q1 2018 | 239 million | +10.64% from last quarter |
| Q2 2018 | 231 million | -3.34% from last quarter |
| Q3 2018 | 251 million | +8.65% from last quarter |
| Q4 2018 | 265 million | +5.57% from last quarter |
| Q1 2019 | 291 million | +9.81% from last quarter |
| Q2 2019 | 300 million | +3.09% from last quarter |
| Q3 2019 | 322 million | +7.33% from last quarter |
| Q4 2019 | 335 million | +4.03% from last quarter |
| Q1 2020 | 367 million | +9.55% from last quarter |
| Q2 2020 | 416 million | +13.35% from last quarter |
| Q3 2020 | 442 million | +6.25% from last quarter |
| Q4 2020 | 459 million | +3.84 from last quarter |
| Q1 2021 | 478 million | +4.13% from last quarter |
| Q2 2021 | 454 million | -5.02% from last quarter |
| Q3 2021 | 444 million | -2.20% from last quarter |
| Q4 2021 | 431 million | -2.92% from last quarter |
| Q1 2022 | 433 million | +0.46% from last quarter |
| Q2 2022 | 433 million | 0% from last quarter |
| Q3 2022 | 445 million | +2.77% from last quarter |
| Q4 2022 | 450 million | +1.12% from last quarter |
It’s great to see that Pinterest has indeed grown its userbase throughout the years. From Q4 2016 to Q4 2022, there’s been a 181.25% increase in monthly active users for the platform.
From 160 to 450 million users; that’s a pretty big leap but not remarkable considering the 6-year period. During the same period, Facebook grew from 1.86 billion to 2.963 billion, a 59.3% increase.
Even though Pinterest’s percentage growth is higher, Facebook is vastly more impressive because its MAU is much closer to saturation compared to Pinterest.
Compare Pinterest’s 160 million users in Q4 2016 to Facebook’s 1.86 billion. That’s a 1,062% difference in Facebook’s favor. The more users a platform has, the slower its growth tends to be, and the harder it is to retain all those users.
Still, Pinterest should break the 500 million MAU milestone pretty soon. That’s not too shabby at all.
Next, I’ll show you the monthly active users from Q1 2016 to Q4 2022 per region. This should help us understand where is Pinterest most popular across time.
Pinterest Monthly Active Users Q1 2016 – Q4 2022 per World Region
In the previous chart, we’ve seen how the US had more Pinterest users than any other individual country in the world. But what about world regions? Does the US still hold supremacy?
Let’s see the chart:
| Period | United States | International | Europe | United States and Canada | Rest of the World |
| Q1 2016 | 65 million | 63 million | |||
| Q2 2016 | 65 million | 70 million | |||
| Q3 2016 | 69 million | 81 million | |||
| Q4 2016 | 70 million | 90 million | |||
| Q1 2017 | 71 million | 104 million | |||
| Q2 2017 | 71 million | 114 million | |||
| Q3 2017 | 74 million | 129 million | |||
| Q4 2017 | 76 million | 139 million | |||
| Q1 2018 | 80 million | 160 million | |||
| Q2 2018 | 75 million | 156 million | |||
| Q3 2018 | 80 million | 171 million | |||
| Q4 2018 | 82 million | 184 million | |||
| Q1 2019 | 85 million | 184 million | |||
| Q2 2019 | 85 million | 206 million | |||
| Q3 2019 | 85 million | 215 million | |||
| Q4 2019 | 87 million | 235 million | |||
| Q1 2020 | 90 million | 277 million | |||
| Q2 2020 | 96 million | 321 million | |||
| Q3 2020 | 98 million | 343 million | |||
| Q4 2020 | 98 million | 361 million | |||
| Q1 2021 | 98 million | 380 million | |||
| Q2 2021 | 91 million | 363 million | |||
| Q3 2021 | 89 million | 356 million | |||
| Q4 2021 | 86 million | 346 million | |||
| Q1 2022 | 120 million | 94 million | 220 million | ||
| Q2 2022 | 117 million | 92 million | 223 million | ||
| Q3 2022 | 120 million | 95 million | 230 million | ||
| Q4 2022 | 124 million | 95 million | 231 million |
A quick disclaimer – the 2016-2021 period uses the United States – International metric, whereas the 2021-2022 period divides the “International” metric into two: Europe and the Rest of the World.
The US becomes the United States and Canada. The reason for this change is unclear but it’s likely due to a change in the methodology of compiling and analyzing the data. The “United States and Canada” metric is likely more relevant than the US alone.
In any case, it’s clear from the chart that Pinterest has been gaining popularity much faster internationally than it has in the US. Even when you combine the US + Canada, the numbers still favor Europe and the rest of the world.
What this tells me is that Pinterest has done a good job marketing itself internationally. Based on the penetration rate I mentioned previously, the US still holds supreme but other countries come pretty damn close.
Pinterest’s Worldwide User Distribution by Gender in January 2023
Pinterest is the only social media platform in the world where the gender balance is heavily skewered toward women.
You’ll see in the following chart what I’m talking about:
| Gender | Percentage of Pinterest Users |
| Male | 17.2% |
| Female | 76.2% |
| Unspecified | 6.6% |
Pinterest’s female userbase is 76.2% while the male userbase is 17.2%. Even if all the unspecified-gender users were male (highly unlikely), the male users would only account for 23.8% of the user base.
There are more than three times more women than men on Pinterest, in other words. The platform seems to cater to women more than anything else, which is understandable.
Pinterest is mostly a creative’s paradise where home design takes center stage. Everything design-related will find a home on Pinterest, and that’s where women shine the brightest.
Below, I’ll show you Pinterest’s distribution in terms of age and gender as of January 2022. You’ll see both the gender and age gap in action, and it shouldn’t be surprising at all.
Pinterest’s Worldwide User Distribution by Age Group & Gender in January 2023
Now that you’ve seen which gender is more prevalent on Pinterest, care to guess what’s the most common age among Pinterest users?
Let’s see in the chart below:
| Age | Share of Male Users | Share of Female Users | Share of Unspecified Users |
| 18-24 | 3.8% | 18.1% | 1.1% |
| 25-34 | 7.1% | 28.5% | 3.3% |
| 35-44 | 2.5% | 12% | 1% |
| 45-54 | 1.8% | 7% | 0.5% |
| 55-64 | 1.7% | 7% | 0.6% |
| 65+ | 0.8% | 2.9% | 0.3% |
Women aged 25-34 are the most numerous users on Pinterest, according to this Statista data, followed by women aged 18-24.
Men are a very small minority across all ages on Pinterest, which goes to show how Pinterest has become a female-centric social media platform.
The question remains, though – will Pinterest try to attract more male users to the platform or double down on its popularity with female users?
If you ask me, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Pinterest to extend its reach across all genders. The more users, the more activity and the more ad money, correct?
On the other hand, the platform should also keep doing what it’s been doing because women are absolutely in love with Pinterest. And the way I hear it, Pinterest has become more and more popular recently.
Next, I’ll present a very interesting piece of data. Keep reading!
Pinterest Users Data Requests Issued by the US in Q1 2018 – Q2 2021
Do you know how every social media platform has its fair share of user data requests, search warrants, takedown orders, and so on? Well, Pinterest is no exception.
Just in Q2 2021, the platform received 81 user data requests by US federal authorities. Below, you’ll find a chart detailing the number of user data requests in a 3-year period from 2018 to 2021.
| Period | Number of User Data Requests |
| Q1 2018 | 12 |
| Q2 2018 | 12 |
| Q3 2018 | 20 |
| Q4 2018 | 13 |
| Q1 2019 | 19 |
| Q2 2019 | 28 |
| Q3 2019 | 34 |
| Q4 2019 | 15 |
| Q1 2020 | 46 |
| Q2 2020 | 76 |
| Q1 2021 | 86 |
| Q2 2021 | 81 |
It seems that, over time, Pinterest has received more and more user data requests from US government agencies. The good thing is that the platform requires a search warrant, subpoena or a court order to provide user information.
It’s not a loose-tongued social media platform that’ll just serve your information on a platter to the first-comer.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any information about the number of user data requests that Pinterest actually honored in this timeframe.
This next piece of data will offer the keen perspective of how well Pinterest has been doing lately in terms of increasing its user base.
Evolution of MAU Worldwide for 8 Social Media Platforms in 2019-2021
To truly put things into perspective, I’ve decided to compare Pinterest’s MAU (monthly active users) growth with that of other social media platforms.
| Platform | Growth of MAU from 2019 to 2021 |
| TikTok | 38% |
| 32% | |
| 30% | |
| 19% | |
| Snapchat | 17% |
| 16% | |
| 13% | |
| 8% |
This is… quite a bit surprising. If you’d have asked me how Pinterest’s userbase growth compares to other social media platforms, I’d have placed it last. Or among the last.
But, based on this chart, Pinterest is the second fastest-growing social media platform in the world during the 2019-2021 period.
Its monthly active user base has grown by 32%, which is just a bit behind TikTok’s 38%. Every other major social media platform lags behind Pinterest, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter.
I’ll have to revise my opinion of Pinterest’s popularity based on what I found today. And I hope this article proves helpful to you too!
Pinterest has definitely been pulling some major numbers in terms of userbase growth and new user attraction.
But that’s all I have for today. I’ll see you at the next one 😀
Sources
- Statista – Leading Countries Based on Pinterest Audience Size as of January 2023
- Statista – Pinterest Penetration in Selected Countries and Territories as of January 2023
- Statista – Number of Monthly Active Pinterest Users Worldwide from 1st Quarter 2016 to 4th Quarter 2022
- Statista – Number of Monthly Active Pinterest Users from 1st Quarter 2016 to 4th Quarter 2022, by Region
- Statista – Distribution of Pinterest Users Worldwide as of January 2023, by Gender
- Statista – Distribution of Pinterest Audiences Worldwide as of January 2023, by Age Group and Gender
- Statista – Number of User Data Requests Issued to Pinterest from United States Legal and Federal Agencies as of 2nd Half 2021
- Statista – Growth of Monthly Active Users of Selected Social Media Platforms Worldwide from 2019 to 2021
