In May 2025, Instagram had almost ***** million users in the United Kingdom (UK). The largest share of Instagram users were individuals aged between 25 and 34 years old, at **** percent. This was followed by the category of users aged 18 to 24 years. Individuals over 65 years old, were less likely to use the social media platform, making up the smallest share of Instagram users during this period. Leading social media in the UK According to figures based on approximately ******* billion hits online per month, Facebook was the leading social media website in the UK as of November 2024, holding over ***** percent of the social media market share. This was followed by Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter). The Pinterest website ranked fourth during that period, with a market share of **** percent. Facebook: Leader in the UK The number of social network users in the UK experienced an increase of roughly *** million users between 2018 and 2023. The share of female Facebook users is slightly higher than the number of male users. At ********* of respondents, individuals aged between 25 and 34 years old made up the largest share of Facebook users in the UK. This was followed by roughly **** percent of users within the 35 to 44 years old category. Facebook usage appeared to be the lowest among those aged 65 and older.

In May 2025, there were almost ***** million Instagram users in the United Kingdom (UK). The number of users on Instagram in the UK rose quickly between January and February 2023 and has remained relatively stable since then. 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.  

There were 34 709 300 Instagram users in United Kingdom in May 2025, which accounted for 50.2% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 55%. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (10 300 000). The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 35 to 44, where women lead by 3 100 000.

In January 2025, women made up 55 percent of Instagram's audience in the United Kingdom, with men accounting for the remaining 45 percent. Overall, 96 percent of UK social media users were aware of Meta's Instagram.

Instagram’s appeal in the United Kingdom is the strongest among ***** between ********* years, with **** percent of the popular photo and video platform's demographic being women in this age group as of January 2025. Overall, ** percent of Instagram's audience in the UK were women, while men engaging with Instagram were ** percent of the total. Instagram in the United Kingdom In November 2024, Instagram counted over **** million users in the United Kingdom. This represents an increase of *** million from the corresponding month in 2023, when Instagram users in the country were approximately **** million. Audiences of millions The leading British influencers have fan bases with millions of followers, a dream scenario for advertisers looking to direct brand messages quickly to massive audiences for less than advertising in traditional media. As of 2020, ************* was the United Kingdom’s most popular celebrity influencer with over ** million followers, followed by singer Dua Lipa with a following of ** million.

The number of Instagram users in the United Kingdom was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 2.1 million users (+7.02 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Instagram user base is estimated to reach 32 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Instagram users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here with regards to the platform instagram, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period and count multiple accounts by persons only once.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

In June 2023 in the United Kingdom, there were approximately 1.8 million users of Meta's Facebook aged between 13 and 17 years. Additionally, Facebook Messenger had a total of 564 thousand users in the UK belonging to this age group. Overall, Meta's Instagram had over 1.5 million UK teenage users the platform in June 2023, accounting for around five percent of the platform's audience in the country.

As of February 2025, India had a total of 413.85 million Instagram users, the largest Instagram audience in the world. The United States had 171.7 million users, and Brazil had 140.7 million. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan ranked in fourth, fifth and sixth position, respectively. Kazakhstan is the leading country for Instagram audience reach, with 86.2 percent of the population using the social media service. Turkey came in second, with a penetration rate of 85.5 percent and Uruguay ranked third, with 87.1 percent, followed closely by the UAE, Brazil, and Bahrain. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, took 11 years, whilst Facebook took 13.3 years and YouTube took just over 14 years. 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 June 2023 in the United Kingdom, 12 percent of social media users had a household income of less than 15.6 thousand pounds. Overall, 13 percent of social media users in the UK had an income of between 22.8 thousand and 31.2 GPB, whilst eight percent had an annual household income of over 123 thousand GBP.

How high is the brand awareness of Instagram in the UK?When it comes to social media users, brand awareness of Instagram is at 96% in the UK. The survey was conducted using the concept of aided brand recognition, showing respondents both the brand's logo and the written brand name.How popular is Instagram in the UK?In total, 55% of UK social media users say they like Instagram.What is the usage share of Instagram in the UK?All in all, 56% of social media users in the UK use Instagram.How loyal are the users of Instagram?Around 52% of social media users in the UK say they are likely to use Instagram again.What's the buzz around Instagram in the UK?In February 2024, about 29% of UK social media users had heard about Instagram in the media, on social media, or in advertising over the past four weeks.If you want to compare brands, do deep-dives by survey items of your choice, filter by total online population or users of a certain brand, or drill down on your very own hand-tailored target groups, our Consumer Insights Brand KPI survey has you covered.

The number of LinkedIn users in the United Kingdom was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 1.5 million users (+4.51 percent). After the eighth consecutive increasing year, the LinkedIn user base is estimated to reach 34.7 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. User figures, shown here with regards to the platform LinkedIn, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period and count multiple accounts by persons only once.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

During the survey period, it was found that 54 percent of the respondents in the United Kingdom (UK) used Instagram several times a day in the first quarter of 2020. A share of 12 percent of respondents reported using Instagram a few times a week.

Social media's influence in the United Kingdom continues to grow, with **** million active users as of February 2025, representing ** percent of the population. This penetration rate surpasses the global average of **** percent, positioning the UK as a leader in social media adoption. The country's high usage reflects a broader trend of increasing social media engagement worldwide, particularly in Northern and Western Europe. Global social media landscape The social media landscape is rapidly evolving, with China currently hosting over one billion users and India projected to become the largest social media audience by 2029. Notably, Nigeria is expected to see a staggering *** percent increase in its online networking audience between 2023 and 2029. In 2024, global social media users spent an average of *** minutes per day on social networks. Facebook is still the market leader Facebook is the most widely utilized social media platform globally, and India boasts *** million Facebook users, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. As of April 2024, it was found that men between the ages of ** and ** were the largest audience for Facebook, accounting for **** percent of global users. Furthermore, Facebooks second-largest audience base could be found with men aged 18 to 24 years.

The use of social media platforms continues to increase in the United Kingdom (UK) and is predicted to do so for the foreseeable future. As of 2024, there are a total of **** million social network users in the UK. The number of social media users in the UK is expected to reach ** million by 2027. Facebook users in the United Kingdom Social media network Facebook, which recently rebranded as Meta in a move towards the metaverse, had ***** million users in the United Kingdom as of December 2021, a relatively small increase on the previous year of *** million. Two years prior, the number of FB users in the UK was ***** million. Throughout 2021, Facebook’s user numbers declined, sinking to ***** in September, however, toward the end of the year, audience figures recovered. Furthermore, Facebook Messenger, Facebook’s instant messaging app, had a total of ***** million UK users at the end of 2021. The majority of UK Facebook users at the end of last year belonged to the 25 to 34 year age group which made up **** percent of all users. Overall, **** percent of audiences this age group were women and **** percent were men. Popular social networks in the United Kingdom In 2021, social media app Instagram had a total of ** million UK users. Instagram was most popular amongst 25 to 34 year olds, accounting for approximately a third of users. In addition, professional online networking platform LinkedIn also finds popularity amongst this demographic, with **** percent of its users being between the ages of 25 and 34 years.

Instagram’s most popular post

              As of April 2024, the most popular post on Instagram was Lionel Messi and his teammates after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, posted by the account @leomessi. Messi's post, which racked up over 61 million likes within a day, knocked off the reigning post, which was 'Photo of an Egg'. Originally posted in January 2021, 'Photo of an Egg' surpassed the world’s most popular Instagram post at that time, which was a photo by Kylie Jenner’s daughter totaling 18 million likes.
              After several cryptic posts published by the account, World Record Egg revealed itself to be a part of a mental health campaign aimed at the pressures of social media use.

              Instagram’s most popular accounts

              As of April 2024, the official Instagram account @instagram had the most followers of any account on the platform, with 672 million followers. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) was the most followed individual with 628 million followers, while Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) was the most followed woman on the platform with 429 million. Additionally, Inter Miami CF striker Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had a total of 502 million. Celebrities such as The Rock, Kylie Jenner, and Ariana Grande all had over 380 million followers each.

              Instagram influencers

              In the United States, the leading content category of Instagram influencers was lifestyle, with 15.25 percent of influencers creating lifestyle content in 2021. Music ranked in second place with 10.96 percent, followed by family with 8.24 percent. Having a large audience can be very lucrative: Instagram influencers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with over 90,000 followers made around 1,221 US dollars per post.

              Instagram around the globe

              Instagram’s worldwide popularity continues to grow, and India is the leading country in terms of number of users, with over 362.9 million users as of January 2024. The United States had 169.65 million Instagram users and Brazil had 134.6 million users. The social media platform was also very popular in Indonesia and Turkey, with 100.9 and 57.1, respectively. As of January 2024, Instagram was the fourth most popular social network in the world, behind Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp.

According to a survey carried out in April 2023, more than a half of UK consumers who said they followed influencers used Instagram to do so. YouTube was the second most popular platform, used by 44 percent of the interviewed to that end.

This statistic displays data provided to Statista by We Are Flint about the share of Instagram users in the United Kingdom (UK) in January 2018, by household income. In 2018, it was found that 38 percent of responding UK online adults living in a household with an annual income of under £14,000 were Instagram users.

As of the third quarter of 2024, WhatsApp was the most active social network among internet users in the United Kingdom (UK), with 79.9 percent of internet users reporting use of the service. Facebook was very close behind, with a rate of 72.3 percent, followed by Facebook Messenger with 56.6 percent. YouTube’s broad audience in the United Kingdom YouTube reaches a broad audience in the UK, making it an attractive partner for advertisers of almost any product. More than 75 percent of individuals of every income bracket watch YouTube, with the likelihood of watching increasing with the pay-grade. Whether advertising basic items or luxury products, marketers should be able to connect with UK audiences through YouTube. There are almost no people in the UK to not use YouTube at least monthly. According to a survey conducted in the third quarter of 2020, 46 percent of respondents went on YouTube on a daily basis. Facebook in the United Kingdom  Facebook enjoys a healthy market position in the UK, holding an estimated  55 percent share of the market. The service attracted  50.6 million UK users during May 2021, and Facebook UK Limited  generated 1.1 billion British pounds in revenue  during 2019. The UK division of the company  posted an operating profit of 121.9 million British pounds that year. 

The US has historically been the target country for Twitter since its launch in 2006. This is the full breakdown of Twitter users by country.

Regional use of social media has a significant effect on the male and female social media statistics.