WhatsApp User Statistics: Growth & Market Penetration

WhatsApp is undeniably one of the most popular social media apps in the world. Whether it qualifies as social media or not, I’ve talked about it in another article. Be sure to check that one out.

But to really understand how popular WhatsApp is, I’ll give you the total number of mobile messages sent daily on the app from 2016 to 2020:

50 billion messages sent daily in Q4 2016
50 billion messages sent daily in Q2 2017
60 billion messages sent daily in Q4 2017
100 billion messages sent daily in Q3 2020

This means that, as of Q3 2020, there are over 30 trillion messages sent monthly on WhatsApp, amounting to 360 trillion messages per year. Yeah, it’s quite a mouthful.

That’s not all, though. Before I get into more details, I’ll give you a few general stats about WhatsApp to really put this into perspective:

Currently, WhatsApp has more than 2.24 billion monthly active users
WhatsApp is the single most used messaging app in the world, bar none
Between 2016 and 2020, WhatsApp gained more than a billion active users
WhatsApp is the most popular app in 100+ nations around the world
As of Q4 2021, Hong Kong had a 93.9% increase in WhatsApp downloads from the Apple App Store compared to the same period last year
India is the country with the most WhatsApp downloads, amounting to 291.58 million. There are more than 487.5 million WhatsApp users in the country
WhatsApp is the third most popular app in the world based on user count (2.4 billion users), behind YouTube (2.6 billion users) and Facebook (2.9 billion users)
Not taking China into account, WhatsApp is used by about 69% of all internet users
WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion
Your average Android WhatsApp user generally spends about 19 hours on the app every month
54.5% of all WhatsApp users are male while 45.5% are female
Over 30% of all WhatsApp users are aged 30-49
About 33% of all WhatsApp users are college graduates
WhatsApp is used in over 180 countries around the globe
50% of all American WhatsApp users will use the app daily while 28% use it at least weekly
WhatsApp is most popular for users aged 26-35

Alright, that’s about enough for general statistics. Below, I’ll talk about WhatsApp’s year-over-year monthly active users, the rate of userbase growth, list out the countries with the highest WhatsApp penetration, and more.

So, if you’re interested, keep reading!

Monthly Active Users from 2010 to 2021

WhatsApp has seen some astounding user growth over the years, and the company had never lost users until now. But take a look below to see the MAU (monthly active users) from 2010 until 2021:

Period	Number of Monthly Active Users	% User Growth
October 2010	10 million
December 2011	50 million	400% increase from last year
July 2012	75 million	50% increase from last year
October 2012	100 million	33.3% increase from last year
January 2013	133 million	33% increase from last year
March 2013	166 million	24.81% increase from last year
April 2013	200 million	20.48% increase from last year
June 2013	250 million	25% increase from last year
August 2013	300 million	20% increase from last year
October 2013	350 million	16.66% increase from last year
December 2013	400 million	14.28% increase from last year
January 2014	430 million	7.5% increase from last year
February 2014	465 million	8.13% increase from last year
April 2014	500 million	7.52% increase from last year
August 2014	600 million	20% increase from last year
January 2015	700 million	16.66% increase from last year
April 2015	800 million	14.28% increase from last year
September 2015	900 million	12.5% increase from last year
February 2016	1 billion	11.11% increase from last year
January 2017	1.2 billion	20% increase from last year
July 2017	1.3 billion	8.33% increase from last year
December 2017	1.5 billion	15.38% increase from last year
February 2020	2 billion	33.33% increase from last year
September 2021	2.16 billion	8% increase from last year
April 2022	2.24 billion	3.7% increase from last year

Other than the 400% increase in users on December 2011, there have been no notable increases in WhatsApp’s user base throughout the years. It seems the app has gone through steady growth for the longest time.

However, recently, that growth has slowly diminished, reaching a 3.7% year-over-year increase on April 2022. But, again, that’s to be expected when an app goes over 2 billion users. It’s the dreaded plateau effect causing this.

I estimate that WhatsApp’s user growth may diminish further or halt to a full stop if Zuckerberg decides to monetize the platform. Users may even stop using WhatsApp if that happens. But that’s a story for another time.

Unique WhatsApp Users Worldwide (2020-2022)

It might also be worth it to look at WhatsApp’s number of unique mobile users worldwide as this can tell us the total number of users on the platform. See below:

Period	Number of Unique WhatsApp Users	% Increase
January 2020	1.813 billion
February 2020	1.836 billion	1.26% increase from last month
March 2020	1.859 billion	1.25% increase from last month
April 2020	1.881 billion	1.18% increase from last month
May 2020	1.904 billion	1.22% increase from last month
June 2020	1.927 billion	1.20% increase from last month
July 2020	1.950 billion	1.19% increase from last month
August 2020	1.972 billion	1.12% increase from last month
September 2020	1.995 billion	1.16% increase from last month
October 2020	2.018 billion	1.15% increase from last month
November 2020	2.041 billion	1.14% increase from last month
December 2020	2.063 billion	1.07% increase from last month
January 2021	2.075 billion	0.58% increase from last month
February 2021	2.086 billion	0.53% increase from last month
March 2021	2.097 billion	0.52% increase from last month
April 2021	2.109 billion	0.57% increase from last month
May 2021	2.120 billion	0.52% increase from last month
June 2021	2.131 billion	0.51% increase from last month
July 2021	2.143 billion	0.56% increase from last month
August 2021	2.154 billion	0.51% increase from last month
September 2021	2.165 billion	0.51% increase from last month
October 2021	2.176 billion	0.5% increase from last month
November 2021	2.188 billion	0.55% increase from last month
December 2021	2.199 billion	0.5% increase from last month
January 2022	2.210 billion	0.5% increase from last month
February 2022	2.221 billion	0.49% increase from last month
March 2022	2.233 billion	0.54% increase from last month
April 2022	2.244 billion	0.49% increase from last month
May 2022	2.255 billion	0.49% increase from last month
June 2022	2.266 billion	0.48% increase from last month

While I don’t have data pre-2020 about the number of unique WhatsApp users on the platform, we can, again, see a slow but steady growth that eventually settles at around 0.5% every month. The trend seems to be downward bit by bit, though.

In the following years, we may see the growth going down to 0.4-0.3% or even lower, depending on Zuckerberg’s next moves with WhatsApp. Monetization will have a significant impact on the platform, in my opinion.

WhatsApp Users Per Country & Market Penetration

WhatsApp is not only used by billions of people around the world, but its market penetration is the highest I’ve ever seen in some of the countries I’m about to list.

I’ll also look at the percentage of people from those countries that are using WhatsApp, which will be an interesting find.

Just have a look at the chart below (ordered by Market Penetration), with thanks to DemandSage for some of the information.

Country	User Count	Market Penetration	% of the Total Population Using WhatsApp
Brazil	118.5 million	98.9%	~54.72%
India	487.5 million	97.1%	~34.43%
Italy	36.9 million	97%	~61.27%
Argentina	26.5 million	96%	~57.25%
Switzerland	Unknown	95.9%	Unknown
Finland	Unknown	95.6%	Estimated at 88% according to a 2021 survey
Germany	49.2 million	95.5%	~58.23%
Austria		94.4%	~88% according to a 2022 survey
Netherlands	12.4 million	92.9%	~71.95%
Spain	32.2 million	92.2%	~68.8%
Mexico	60 million	87.1%	~45.28%
Indonesia	84.8 million	86.4%	~30.16%
Russia	67 million	83.7%	~45.86%
United Kingdom	40.41 million	71.3%	~58.71%
France	20.82 million	48%	~31.72
Canada		42.4%	~45%
United States	79.6 million	41.2%	~23.68%
Sweden		33.5%	~11%
Australia		32.9%	~29%

Brazil has taken to WhatsApp the most out of every country in the world, with a penetration rate of 98.9%. However, the entire picture changes when talking about the percentage of the population using WhatsApp. Brazil doesn’t take the top spot there.

Instead, Finland and Austria take the crown, both with around 88% of the total population using WhatsApp. Remember, this data is an approximation from 2021 (in Finland) and 2022 (in Austria). I can’t know for sure what those numbers are now.

But it’s unlikely that a large majority of their population have stopped using WhatsApp in 1-2 years. So, the numbers above should be pretty accurate still.

Age & Gender of WhatsApp Users in 2023

WhatsApp is not just for young or old people. Different demographics make use of the app daily, and below, I’ll give you a general rundown of the age and gender of WhatsApp users as of 2023.

Age	% of WhatsApp Users
15-25	19%
26-35	27%
36-45	20%
46-55	17%
56+	13%

It seems that the 26-25 and 36-45 age category uses WhatsApp the most, with older people having less interest in the app.

Regarding gender, I couldn’t find detailed stats for every age category but what I do know is that, on average, 54.5% of all WhatsApp users are male and 45.5% are female.

This isn’t something surprising since most of the other social media apps are male-dominated as well. Differences may appear, however, when looking at specific age categories and analyzing gender disparities in the use of the app.

For instance, we may find out that in the 46-55 age category, there may be more female users than male users. This is the case with Facebook where some age categories will see more females using the app than males.

This is likely caused by different interests between men and women of varied ages. If we had these stats for WhatsApp, I’m pretty sure we’d be seeing this phenomenon occur.

WhatsApp vs. Other Messaging Apps in Terms of Users

If you hadn’t guessed already, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world. But exactly how far is it ahead of the competition?

Well, take a look at the chart below:

	WhatsApp	Facebook Messenger	WeChat	QQ	Telegram
Number of Users	2 billion users	1.3 billion users	1.213 billion users	617 million users	500 million users
Time Spent	18.6 hours per month	3 hours per month	66 minutes per day	Less than 30 minutes per day	2.9 hours per month

The difference between WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, which takes second place, is 700 million users. WhatsApp has 700 million users more than Messenger.

And even in terms of time spent on the app, WhatsApp is undeniably king if we ignore the monstrous phenomenon that is WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app. But anything Chinese-related is in a world of its own, so there’s that. They even have their own version of TikTok called Douyin.

Closing Remarks

WhatsApp is defined by simplicity, smoothness, crisp responsiveness, and ease of use. The app rarely, if ever, experiences server issues and those are usually fixed within a matter of hours.

It’s no wonder that it’s the most popular messaging app in the world. From personal experience, I can say that WhatsApp can easily replace a more conventional social media app if you’re thinking of limiting your social interactions and remaining close to a smaller circle of friends.

Regarding its growing userbase, I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again – Zuckerberg’s next actions regarding the platform’s monetization will determine WhatsApp’s future. The app’s user base has gotten really used to no monetization and no ads on the platform.

How do I think most users will react when ads will start popping up or premium subscriptions? Badly, very badly. They may simply opt for a different messaging app like Messenger or Telegram.

If WhatsApp were left alone and operated the same as it has for so many years, the platform’s user base would likely continue growing slowly but steadily. It’s true that the month-over-month growth has steadily decreased recently, but the year-over-year increase is still acceptable.

For instance, WhatsApp’s user base grew by about 6.35% from June 2021 to June 2022, amounting to approximately 135 million new users in a year. That’s not too shabby, I’d say. It remains to be seen what happens next!