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 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.

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.

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.

As of September 2019, Facebook Messenger was the most popular mobile messenger app in the United States with 106.4 million unique U.S. users. Snapchat ranked second with an audience of almost 45.98 million users. As of that period, Facebook Messenger had a 57 percent mobile audience reach in the United States. Mobile messaging Mobile communications through messenger or chat apps is one of the leading online activities. The most-downloaded communication apps in the United States include WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger (and its less data-intense version, Messenger Lite) and Telegram. In March 2019, WhatsApp had over 70 million global downloads from the Google Play Store. During a November 2018 survey, it was found that 34 percent of U.S. adults had used one messaging service in the past month, and only four percent had used six services or more. Snapchat Snapchat is also one of the leading mobile messaging apps in the United States. The app, which focuses on multimedia messaging with photos and short video clips, is especially popular with teenage audiences. In spring 2019, it was found that Snapchat was the most important social network for 41 percent of U.S. teens. In 2018, there were almost 80 million Snapchat users in the United States and this figure is projected to increase to 78.1 million users in 2023.

According to an online survey conducted in March 2024 in the United States, Meta's Facebook Messenger was the most used messaging service across all selected age groups, with more than 60 percent of respondents aged between 18 and 54 using the platform, as well as 47 percent of those aged 55 and older. Instagram was the second most popular platform among respondents aged between 18 and 34 years, with more than half of all respondents belonging to this age group using the service.

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.

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.

Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass one billion registered accounts and currently sits at more than three billion monthly active users. Meta Platforms owns four of the biggest social media platforms, all with more than one billion monthly active users each: Facebook (core platform), WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. In the third quarter of 2023, Facebook reported around four billion monthly core Family product users. The United States and China account for the most high-profile social platforms Most top ranked social networks with more than 100 million users originated in the United States, but services like Chinese social networks WeChat, QQ or video sharing app Douyin have also garnered mainstream appeal in their respective regions due to local context and content. Douyin’s popularity has led to the platform releasing an international version of its network: a little app called TikTok. How many people use social media? The leading social networks are usually available in multiple languages and enable users to connect with friends or people across geographical, political, or economic borders. In 2025, social networking sites are estimated to reach 5.42 billion users and these figures are still expected to grow as mobile device usage and mobile social networks increasingly gain traction in previously underserved markets.

The global number of KakaoTalk users in was forecast to decrease between 2024 and 2028 by in total 0.7 million users. This overall decrease does not happen continuously, notably not in 2026 and 2027. The KakaoTalk user base is estimated to amount to 48.7 million users in 2028. Notably, the number of KakaoTalk users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, here concerning the platform kakaoTalk, 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).

The number of WhatsApp users in North America was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 7.6 million users (+4.97 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the WhatsApp user base is estimated to reach 160.51 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of WhatsApp users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here regarding the platform whatsapp, 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.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).Find more key insights for the number of WhatsApp users in countries like Worldwide and Africa.

In December 2024, Tencent’s super app WeChat remained the most popular mobile app in China with around 1.15 billion monthly active users (MAUs). Its older instant messaging sibling QQ climbed to second, with about 840 million MAUs. Messaging, e-commerce, utility, and video streaming apps occupied the most spots in the top 20 list. What makes WeChat so attractive to users? WeChat is a multi-functional app beyond messaging and social networking. From mobile payment and taxi-hailing to making appointments and holiday planning, it provides almost everything to every mobile user in China. WeChat users are from various age groups from teenagers to old adults. In general, most WeChat users spent at least 10 minutes per day on the app. In fact, many companies also use this "super app" to advertise their brands, and its business version Wecom to communicate internally. The promising future of short video apps The rise of short video entertainment is another important trend in the world’s second most populous country, especially in rural regions. ByteDance’s Douyin, which TikTok was cloned from, is one of the key players in the Chinese short video arena. Founded in 2016, Douyin had overtaken its imminent rival Kuaishou (Kwai) as China’s top short video app within four years. As the demand for rural life live streaming has been accelerating, industry experts expected that Chinese short form video market would continue to grow to reach a total revenue of 420 billion yuan by 2024.

How many people use social media? Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2024, over five billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to over six billion in 2028.

Who uses social media? Social networking is one of the most popular digital activities worldwide and it is no surprise that social networking penetration across all regions is constantly increasing. As of January 2023, the global social media usage rate stood at 59 percent. This figure is anticipated to grow as lesser developed digital markets catch up with other regions when it comes to infrastructure development and the availability of cheap mobile devices. In fact, most of social media’s global growth is driven by the increasing usage of mobile devices. Mobile-first market Eastern Asia topped the global ranking of mobile social networking penetration, followed by established digital powerhouses such as the Americas and Northern Europe.

How much time do people spend on social media? Social media is an integral part of daily internet usage. On average, internet users spend 151 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps, an increase of 40 minutes since 2015. On average, internet users in Latin America had the highest average time spent per day on social media.

What are the most popular social media platforms? Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass one billion registered accounts and currently boasts approximately 2.9 billion monthly active users, making it the most popular social network worldwide. In June 2023, the top social media apps in the Apple App Store included mobile messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram Messenger, as well as the ever-popular app version of Facebook.

The number of WhatsApp users in Europe was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 2.6 million users (+2.17 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the WhatsApp user base is estimated to reach 122.38 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of WhatsApp users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here regarding the platform whatsapp, 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.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).Find more key insights for the number of WhatsApp users in countries like Africa and South America.

As of April 2022, Brazil presented the highest share of WhatsApp users, with around nine in 10 messaging app users in the country engaging with the social and instant messaging app. WhatsApp had a penetration rate of approximately 97 percent among messaging and chat app users in India and Italy. Phone messaging users in Australia presented the lowest usage share of WhatsApp, with only 33 percent of mobile phone messaging app users reporting engaging with the Meta-owned app.

We asked U.S. consumers about "Most used messenger by brand" and found that "Facebook Messenger" takes the top spot, while "Viber" is at the other end of the ranking.These results are based on a representative online survey conducted in 2024 among 10,147 consumers in the United States.

As of April 2024, India had the biggest Snapchat user base in the world, with an audience of 202.51 million users. The United States ranked in second place with a Snapchat audience base of over 106 million users. The photo-sharing platform is projected to reach more than 531 million global users by 2025. Snapchat’s popularity Being one of the most popular social networks worldwide and especially liked by younger online audiences, Snapchat is an increasingly attractive platform for advertisers. According to industry estimates, Snapchat’s 2019 advertising revenue is forecast to amount to over 2.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, up from 1.53 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. Snapchat is a mobile-first social network, with the majority of visits generated via mobile phones. According to U.S. Snapchat users, the main reason for using the platform was to keep in contact with friends and family. Snapchat’s vanishing photo sharing function has popularized the sharing of everyday photos in a story stream, a setup that has since also been adopted by other photo and messaging apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Despite the competition, Snapchat users are among the most engaged – a total of 48 percent of U.S. Snapchat users post content to the app on a weekly basis. Only WhatsApp and Facebook can boast a more active audience.

The number of Tencent's WeChat active accounts has been increasing steadily. As at the end of March 2025, the Chinese multi-functional social media platform had over *** billion monthly active users. WeChat users First released in 2011, WeChat is a mobile messaging app developed by the Chinese company Tencent. In its home market of China, WeChat was marketed as Weixin and was rebranded as WeChat in 2012 for international audiences. In 2018, WeChat and Weixin surpassed *********** users, which was a significant increase from the previous year. Today, WeChat is one of the leading social networks worldwide, ranking ******in terms of active user numbers. It has users from different age groups. Special features on WeChat WeChat has lots of popular messaging app features, including Moments. Most WeChat users access WeChat Moments every time they open the app. The app also provides a broad range of services, such as financial management and mobile shopping. Short videos, online payment, and gaming were the most popular activities among WeChat users. A survey found that half of users spent *** to ** minutes per visit on the short video function, WeChat Channels.

As of March 2020, WhatsApp had two billion monthly active users, up from over 1 billion MAU in February 2016. The service is one of the most popular mobile messaging apps worldwide and was acquired by social network Facebook for 19 billion U.S. dollars in February 2014. WhatsApp WhatsApp is a cross-platform instant messaging service for smartphones that relies on the internet for the transmission of messages. Based on a low-cost subscription model, WhatsApp is a cheap alternative to carrier-billed text messaging via SMS, especially for international or group messaging. The mobile messaging app enables users to share text, image and video messages. In the United States, the WhatsApp audience amounted to 68.1 million users in 2019 and is set to grow to 85.8 million users in 2023.

WhatsApp is especially popular in markets outside the United States while facing strong competition from Asia-based social messenger apps such as WeChat, LINE or Kakaotalk. WhatsApp’s popularity in emerging mobile markets is not only based on their low-cost business model but on many of its features.

India was the leading market of Telegram by app downloads. Throughout 2024, Indian users installed the messaging app approximately 100 million times. Russia ranked second, with over 38.4 million downloads over the observed period, while U.S. users installed the app 38.2 million times. Brazil recorded the largest number of downloads among Latin American countries. France and Germany were the leading markets in Western Europe. Telegram usage in India Telegram had the fourth-highest penetration rate among social media platforms in India, following WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. In the third quarter of 2023, more than 58 percent of Indian active social media users reported having used Telegram over the past month. However, user engagement on Telegram in India was significantly lower than on other major networks. On average, Indian users spent 2.3 hours per month on the platform in 2021, which was 10 times shorter than on WhatsApp. Growing popularity of Telegram As of July 2024, Telegram had 950 million active users around the globe, having multiplied its audience tenfold since December 2014. Telegram recorded a sharp increase in global downloads in the first quarter of 2021, when WhatsApp, its competitor owned by Meta, updated its privacy policy. In March 2022, Telegram further increased its popularity in Russia after Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram were banned in the country. The number of daily active users (DAU) of Telegram nationwide grew by 15 percent between January and March 2022.