As of February 2025, two billion users were accessing the WhatsApp messenger on a monthly basis. The app’s reach in usage penetration is particularly strong in markets outside the United States, and it is one of the most popular mobile social apps worldwide. WeChat amassed over 1.38 billion users, and Facebook Messenger amassed around 947 million users worldwide. Instant messaging is a type of online chat which offers real-time text transmission via internet. Since the appearance of the smartphone and the subsequent explosion of mobile apps, low-cost or free chat and social messaging apps have proven themselves as a cheap alternative to operator-based text messaging via SMS. Many messenger apps offer features such as group chats, the exchange of graphics, video and even audio messages as well as stickers or emoticons.

In January 2025, Meta-owned chat and communication app WhatsApp was the most downloaded mobile messenger app worldwide, with over 57 million downloads. Mobile social and communication app Snapchat ranked second with approximately 30 million downloads, while Telegram ranked third with approximately 27.6 million download worldwide.

In March 2024, seven out of ten respondents in Russia used WhatsApp, which was the highest share compared to other messenger applications for mobile phones. The share of Russians who used Telegram reached 51 percent, while the third most popular messenger was Viber. Messenger use in Russia Almost 80 percent of Russians used instant messaging platforms in 2023, as compared to 84 percent in Brazil and 71 percent in the United Kingdom (UK). Among internet users, the share of online chat and messenger services consumers in Russia stood at 93.5 percent, one percentage point below the global average. WhatsApp in Russia While other social media platforms by Meta Platforms are banned in Russia, WhatsApp can be used in the country. Users aged 25 to 34 years spent the most time on the messenger, at 36 minutes per day in the first quarter of 2023. The penetration rate of WhatsApp in Russia was around 84 percent as of 2022, which was lower than in Brazil and Italy, but higher than in Sweden and Australia.

Over three billion people use messaging apps, making them one of the most popular app types. For most people, mobile messaging consists of two platforms: Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp....

As of December 2021, WeChat and Weixin had about 1.27 billion monthly active users, ranking first among the most popular Asia-based mobile messengers. This was followed by runner-up LINE with 178 million monthly active users in the key markets Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. WeChat (China), LINE (Japan), and KakaoTalk (South Korea) are market leaders in their country of origin.

Mobile messengers in Asia Pacific

Besides text and voice messaging, WeChat, LINE, Hike and KakaoTalk also provide various other features such as photo and video sharing, digital payment and mobile gaming through mini apps that are integrated in the app itself while offering accounts for both private and business users. Combining all these features in one application is one of the reasons why these messenger apps have been witnessing increasing user numbers in the past years. Further factors for the popularity of messenger apps is the importance of social networks in countries such as China and the high internet usage and internet connectivity in places like South Korea.

Global players

User demand for special features, such as photo-sharing, video-sharing, voice messages or emoticons, as well as zero or low costs of messaging via an internet connection, have created a need for mobile messenger apps on the market. Globally, WhatsApp has been the market leader with 1.6 billion monthly users around the world as of October 2019, followed by Facebook Messenger and WeChat.

China’s telecommunications market houses a variety of domestic messaging apps such as WeChat, QQ, and Momo that cater to its diverse population of smartphone users. As of November 2024, Tencent’s WeChat remained the most popular messaging app with over one billion monthly active users in the country. How competitive is the app landscape in China? Instant messaging was the most popular app category in China with a massive user base. When it comes to app usage time, video apps have attracted more attention from Chinese mobile users than any other app category. Apart from the well-established video-sharing platforms such as Youku, Tencent Video, and iQIYI, various short video apps - especially Douyin and Kuaishou (Kwai) - have been gaining traction rapidly in the app market. At the same time, online payment apps like Alipay and e-commerce apps such as Taobao and Pinduoduo have trailed closely behind in terms of monthly active user numbers. App usage trends China has one of the most engaged app user markets in the world, this is reflected in the high app installations, daily usage numbers, and consumer spending. However, data privacy awareness has been growing among Chinese consumers. An annual online survey found that a significant amount of users doubted the data privacy and security policies of internet companies. Besides, checking app permissions and partial granting personal data access on smartphones have become more common. It is important for app developers and publishers to avoid undesirable user permissions in order to gain the initial trust of Chinese users.

WhatsApp was the most popular messenger in Tajikistan, according to a survey conducted in 2022, as per 46 percent of respondents. The second most commonly used messaging platform in the country was Imo.

When it comes to Poles communicating with their friends and family through mobile apps, the Facebook messaging app was the most frequently chosen mobile app. As of February 2022, 86 percent of Polish people used the Messenger application to communicate with others. WhatsApp ranked second, with 54 percent of respondents using the app. Polish instant messaging client Gadu-Gadu came second to last with approximately one in 10 respondents communicating through the app.

The profile of a Messenger user 

Mobile communication in Poland has been dominated by Facebook messenger. In January 2022, there were over 18 million Messenger users in Poland, which constituted an increase of roughly 1.5 million users compared to the year before. The majority of the app’s users were between 25 and 34 years old, with women dominating the age group share. Moreover, the same age group made up the highest share of the social media advertising audience Facebook, Instagram, and FB Messenger in Poland.

Mobile messaging 

 Mobile messaging is a type of instant online chat that offers real-time text transmission via the internet. In Poland, mobile devices are used by almost 63 percent of users to access the virtual world, with Samsung and Xiaomi holding the largest share of the smartphone market in the country. Therefore, Poles are open to communicating with others through mobile apps. Just over 32 percent of average internet users and almost 68 percent of Poles threatened with Internet addiction use the internet every day or nearly every day to contact friends via messengers such as Messenger (Facebook), WhatsApp, or GG (Gadu-Gadu). Moreover, almost half of Poles enjoy using emoticons as they find the virtual smileys an important way of expressing their emotions.

WhatsApp was the most popular messenger in Kyrgyzstan, according to a survey conducted in 2022, as per 90 percent of respondents. The second most commonly used messaging platform in the country was Telegram.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023 among mobile messenger users, 94.6 percent of surveyed mobile messenger users stated that they use KakaoTalk. It was by far the most used messenger service in South Korea. KakaoTalk’s massive user base In South Korea, almost every person with access to the internet and a suitable device is using KakaoTalk. In 2024, domestic user numbers amounted to almost 49 million active users. Over the years, user numbers have only increased, with only one major fluctuation being recorded in 2018. The popularity of the messenger app has also stretched to other countries. Including its domestic users, KakaoTalk’s user base breached the 50-million mark back in 2018. What other Kakao Corp. services are commonly used?  Kakao Corporation, the internet-based company running KakaoTalk, offers numerous services. Many of these can be accessed via the messenger app itself and include services related to navigation, transportation, entertainment, and finances. In fact, the mobile banking service Kakao Bank attracted close to 23 million users by the end of 2023 despite being only established as a digital bank in 2017.

WhatsApp was the most popular messenger in Kazakhstan, according to a survey conducted in 2022, as per over 80 percent of respondents. The second most commonly used messaging platform in the country was Telegram.

WhatsApp was the most popular messenger in Uzbekistan, according to a survey conducted in 2022, as per two thirds of respondents. The second most commonly used messaging platform in the country was Telegram.

Mobile communication in New Zealand has been dominated by Facebook messenger, with 75 percent of the population claiming to use it in 2021. Facebook messenger is a service provide by social networking giant Facebook, further supporting its dominance in the mobile app market in New Zealand.

Rise of social media for messaging

The share of active mobile social media users in the country amounted to 97 percent of the population in 2021. Social messaging apps were the most widely used smartphone apps in 2021. Mobile messaging was the most common activity performed on a smartphone in New Zealand. Aside from Facebook, Snapchat and Skype are also widely used by the online population. While Snapchat allows users to instantly share moments, Skype specializes in providing video chat and voice calls between users.

A cheaper, faster way to stay connected

The use of chat apps has been propagated by the rapid increase in smartphone ownership across the country. As the population moved away from using simple cell phones, traditional calling and SMS messaging services became less appealing, with users opting to use the free services provided by mobile apps with minimal data usage. With the increasing coverage of 4G and eventually 5G networks across the country, using mobile apps for communicating seems to be the way forward for the internet savvy nation.

In 2021, an estimate of 3.09 billion mobile phone users accessed over-the-top messaging apps to communicate. This figure is projected to grow to 3.51 billion users in 2025. At the beginning of 2021, WhatsApp was the most popular mobile messenger app worldwide. The messaging service had accumulated over two billion monthly active users.

Comparing the share of instant messaging users in selected countries worldwide, the highest share can be found in Indonesia with 91 percent of consumers falling into this category. South Africa follows in the second place, while Japan ends up at the bottom of the ranking.Statista Consumer Insights offer you all results of our exclusive Statista surveys, based on more than 2,000,000 interviews.

In 2022, WhatsApp was the most downloaded messenger app in Spain, with over 85.8 million downloads in the examined year. Facebook Messenger ranked second, with almost 48.4 million downloads from Spanish users in 2022, while Telegram ranked third with 28.9 million downloads during the examined period.

Kik is definitely more popular with younger people. 70% of Kik users are aged between 13 and 24 years old. Kik is specifically popular among teenagers in the US, with over a third of all American teens actively using Kik to message friends.

Today the Kik app gets more than 1 million downloads each month.

According to a survey during the third quarter of 2023, Facebook Messenger was among the most used social networks in Latin America. Mexico tops the list regarding the Messenger usage reach, with almost 80 percent of its online population using the instant messaging app and ranking as the fourth most used platform in the country. It was followed by Colombia, with 68.2 percent. Meanwhile, 53.9 percent of internet users in Argentina claimed the same.

As of the third quarter of 2024, Nigeria was the region with the highest share of online audience using chat and messaging platforms worldwide. Around 100 percent of its internet users reported using such online communication services on a monthly basis. Morocco followed, with around 99.6 percent of its internet users using messaging apps. Approximately, 94.5 percent of the global internet audience used online chats and instant messaging platforms during the last measured quarter.