In 2021, there were 1.21 billion monthly active users of Meta's Instagram, making up over 28 percent of the world's internet users. By 2025, it has been forecast that there will be 1.44 billion monthly active users of the social media platform, which would account for 31.2 percent of global internet users.

How popular is Instagram?

Instagram, as of January 2022, was the fourth most popular social media platform in the world in terms of user numbers. YouTube and WhatsApp ranked in second and third place, respectively, whilst Facebook remained the most popular, with almost three billion monthly active users worldwide.

India had the largest number of Instagram users as of January 2022, with a total of over 230 million users in the country. The second-largest Instagram audience could be found in the United States, with almost 160 million people subscribing to the photo and video sharing app.

Gen Z and Instagram

As of September 2021, Gen Z users in the United States spent an average of five hours per week on Instagram. Although Instagram ranked third in terms of hours per week spent on the platform, Gen Z users spent considerably more time on TikTok, amounting to a weekly average of over 10 hours being spent on the mobile-first video app.

Most followed accounts on Instagram

As of May 2022, Instagram’s own account had 504.37 million followers. In terms of celebrities, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (@chistiano) had over 440.41 million followers on the social network. Moreover, the average media value of an Instagram post by Ronaldo was over 985,000 U.S. dollars.

The most liked post on Instagram as of May 2022 was Photo of an Egg, which was posted in 2019 by the account @world_record_egg. Photo of an Egg has not only exceeded 55 million likes on the platform, but it also has nearly 3.5 million comments, and the account itself has over 4.5 million Instagram followers. After mysterious posts published by the account, World Record Egg revealed itself as part of a mental health campaign aimed at the difficulties and demands of using social media.

There were 137 600 000 Instagram users in United States of America in December 2020, which accounted for 39.8% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 56.8%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (45 000 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 45 to 54, where women lead by 6 100 000.

As of October 2025, India had the largest Instagram audience worldwide, with 480.55 million users. The United States ranked second with 181.75 million users, followed by Brazil with 147 million. However, Turkey recorded the highest audience reach, with 92.1 percent of its population using the platform. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of March 2025, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and X. Out of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok was the most used of all three platforms by Generation Z. Overall, 57 percent of Gen Z social media users used Instagram in 2021, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2019. Instagram finds most popularity with those in the 25 to 34 year age group, and as of January 2025, roughly 28.3 of all users in the United States belonged to this age group. The social media app was also more likely to be used by women. Most followed accounts on Instagram Instagram’s official account had the most followers as of April 2024 with over 672 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 628 million followers on the platform, while the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had over 502 million followers. The Instagram accounts of the American singer and actress Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) and the media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 400 million followers each.

As of November 2025, the United Kingdom had ***** million Instagram users. This figure marks a *** percent increase compared with the same month in the previous year. Influencers in the UK As of 2020, the most followed Instagram influencer in the UK was David Beckham. The former England international footballer and current president of Inter Miami FC had over ** million followers. DuaLipa was the top female influencer on Instagram in the UK.   Instagram demographics As of May 2025, Instagram's largest demographic in the UK is women between the ages of 25 and 34 years, which accounts for **** percent of the social platform's users in the country. In contrast, men and women belonging to the 65 years or older age group account for less than **** percent of the network's users in the UK. Instagram is most popular with the younger generation, much like another social media app which has recently been making waves; TikTok.  

As of July 2025, almost 33.3 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 25 and 34 years, and 29.7 percent of users were aged between 18 and 24 years. Overall, 17.4 percent of users belonged to the 35 to 44-year-old age group. Instagram users With roughly one billion monthly active users, Instagram belongs to the most popular social networks worldwide. The social photo-sharing app is especially popular in India and in the United States, which have about 480 million and 181 million Instagram users each. Instagram features One of the most popular features of Instagram is Stories. Users can post photos and videos to their Stories stream, and the content is live for others to view for 24 hours before it disappears. In January 2019, the company reported that there were 500 million daily active Instagram Stories users. Instagram Stories directly competes with Snapchat, another photo-sharing app that initially became famous due to its “vanishing photos” feature. As of the third quarter of 2025, Snapchat had 477 million daily active users.

As of April 2024, around 16.5 percent of global active Instagram users were men between the ages of 18 and 24 years. More than half of the global Instagram population worldwide was aged 34 years or younger.

              Teens and social media

              As one of the biggest social networks worldwide, Instagram is especially popular with teenagers. As of fall 2020, the photo-sharing app ranked third in terms of preferred social network among teenagers in the United States, second to Snapchat and TikTok. Instagram was one of the most influential advertising channels among female Gen Z users when making purchasing decisions. Teens report feeling more confident, popular, and better about themselves when using social media, and less lonely, depressed and anxious.
              Social media can have negative effects on teens, which is also much more pronounced on those with low emotional well-being. It was found that 35 percent of teenagers with low social-emotional well-being reported to have experienced cyber bullying when using social media, while in comparison only five percent of teenagers with high social-emotional well-being stated the same. As such, social media can have a big impact on already fragile states of mind.

Cristiano Ronaldo has one of the most popular Instagram accounts as of April 2024.

              The Portuguese footballer is the most-followed person on the photo sharing app platform with 628 million followers. Instagram's own account was ranked first with roughly 672 million followers.

              How popular is Instagram?

              Instagram is a photo-sharing social networking service that enables users to take pictures and edit them with filters. The platform allows users to post and share their images online and directly with their friends and followers on the social network. The cross-platform app reached one billion monthly active users in mid-2018. In 2020, there were over 114 million Instagram users in the United States and experts project this figure to surpass 127 million users in 2023.

              Who uses Instagram?

              Instagram audiences are predominantly young – recent data states that almost 60 percent of U.S. Instagram users are aged 34 years or younger. Fall 2020 data reveals that Instagram is also one of the most popular social media for teens and one of the social networks with the biggest reach among teens in the United States.

              Celebrity influencers on Instagram
              Many celebrities and athletes are brand spokespeople and generate additional income with social media advertising and sponsored content. Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo ranked first again, as the average media value of one of his Instagram posts was 985,441 U.S. dollars.

There were 214 000 Instagram users in Reunion in December 2020, which accounted for 22.8% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 52.9%. People aged 18 to 24 were the largest user group (73 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 14 000.

There were 277 800 Instagram users in Somalia in January 2020, which accounted for 1.5% of its entire population. The majority of them were men - 54.4%. People aged 18 to 24 were the largest user group (146 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 25 to 34, where men lead by 54 000.

There were 1 210 100 Instagram users in Georgia in December 2020, which accounted for 31% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 57.6%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (400 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 74 000.

There were 2 830 000 Instagram users in Austria in November 2020, which accounted for 31.5% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 52%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (900 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 220 000.

There were 18 480 000 Instagram users in Spain in July 2020, which accounted for 38.3% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 55.2%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (5 700 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 1 700 000.

There were 43 600 Instagram users in Jersey in December 2020. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (11 600). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 3 600.

There were 12 462 000 Instagram users in Iraq in November 2020, which accounted for 26.5% of its entire population. The majority of them were men - 66%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (4 600 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 25 to 34, where men lead by 3 100 000.

There were 53 890 000 Instagram users in Russian Federation in November 2020, which accounted for 37.8% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 60%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (19 300 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 4 400 000.

There were 2 555 000 Instagram users in Norway in November 2020, which accounted for 44.6% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 56.8%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (600 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 45 to 54, where women lead by 150 000.

There were 8 814 000 Instagram users in Taiwan in November 2020, which accounted for 36.8% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 53.5%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (3 100 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 810 000.

There were 31 640 000 Instagram users in Japan in April 2020, which accounted for 25.4% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 58.8%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (11 000 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 25 to 34, where women lead by 4 200 000.

There were 2 500 Instagram users in Monaco in December 2020, which accounted for 6.1% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 56%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (2 500). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 25 to 34, where women lead by 1 100.

There were 4 489 000 Instagram users in Portugal in October 2020, which accounted for 44.6% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 54.8%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (1 260 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 45 to 54, where women lead by 260 000.