Messaging apps are a part of many people’s daily lives.
Their popularity has grown significantly in recent years and they show no sign of slowing down.
Read on for the latest data on instant messaging services including specific stats related to the most popular apps.
Contents
- Top Messaging App Statistics 2024 (Editor’s Picks)
- Most Popular Messaging Apps
- How Many People Use Messaging Apps?
- Regional Messaging App Stats
Top Messaging App Statistics 2024 (Editor’s Picks)
- WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app with 2 billion monthly users.
- There are over 3 billion active users on messaging apps.
- Snapchat generates more revenue from in-app purchases than any other messaging app, bringing in $18.07 million per month.
- WhatsApp is the leading messaging app in over 60 countries.
Most Popular Messaging Apps
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app, boasting approximately 2 billion monthly users. That’s over 600 million more than the second most popular messenger app, WeChat (1.34 billion).
Here’s a breakdown of the most popular messaging services by active monthly users:
| Rank | Messaging Service | Number of Active Monthly Users |
| 1 | 2 billion | |
| 2 | 1.34 billion | |
| 3 | Facebook Messenger | 1.01 billion |
| 4 | Telegram | 900 million |
| 5 | Snapchat | 800 million |
| 6 | 554 million | |
| 7 | Discord | 200 million |
In terms of monthly downloads, WhatsApp Messenger leads the way with a little over 50 million. In Q1 2024, it amassed 115.8 million downloads from Google Play users alone.
Snapchat (41.6 million monthly downloads across Google Play and the Apple Store) and Telegram (36.7 million) make up the rest of the top three.
WhatsApp Business (27.86 million) receives almost half as many downloads as WhatsApp Messenger. Combined (79.05 million), the two WhatsApp apps are downloaded almost twice as much as any other messaging service.
WhatsApp Business is growing at a rapid rate. It boasts over 200 million monthly active users, up from 50 million in 2020.
Here’s a breakdown of monthly downloads for messaging apps:
| Rank | Messaging Service | Monthly Downloads |
| 1 | WhatsApp Messenger | 51.19 million |
| 2 | Snapchat | 41.6 million |
| 3 | Telegram | 36.7 million |
| 4 | WhatsApp Business | 27.86 million |
| 5 | Facebook Messenger | 21.31 million |
| 6 | 6.6 million | |
| 7 | Viber | 3.54 million |
| 8 | 3.28 million | |
| 9 | LINE | 3.06 million |
| 10 | Signal | 2.92 million |
No messaging service generates more revenue per month in in-app purchases than Snapchat ($18.07 million).
Together with second-placed LINE ($15.73 million), the two messaging apps generate more in-app revenue ($33.8 million) than the rest of the top 10 messaging apps combined ($27.05 million).
Here’s a closer look at the top messaging services for in-app purchase revenue:
| Rank | Messaging Service | Monthly In-App Purchase Revenue |
| 1 | Snapchat | $18.07 million |
| 2 | LINE | $15.73 million |
| 3 | $6.94 million | |
| 4 | Telegram | $4.86 million |
| 5 | $4.74 million | |
| 6 | KakaoTalk | $4.36 million |
| 7 | Skype | $2.27 million |
| 8 | TextMe | $1.59 million |
| 9 | TextNow | $1.39 million |
| 10 | Kik | $0.9 million |
Source: Data Reportal, Business of Apps, Statista, Statista 2
With 2 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is unrivaled as the top messaging service.
Not every active user is guaranteed to be a unique individual. But the number of monthly users implies that almost 1 in 4 people globally are using WhatsApp (24.7%).
Looking specifically at over 13s, WhatsApp’s monthly users would account for closer to 1 in 3 people worldwide.
Here’s how WhatsApp users are split by gender:
| Gender | Proportion of WhatsApp Users |
| Male | 52.3% |
| Female | 47.6% |
Worldwide, WhatsApp users average 922.6 app sessions per month. Users in Argentina open the app the most, making 1549.6 visits per month.
In the US, the average number of sessions per month is 233.6. UK users average 363.6 sessions per month.
Here’s how often users in selected countries use WhatsApp:
| Country | Average user WhatsApp sessions per month |
| Argentina | 1549.6 |
| Mexico | 1047.7 |
| Worldwide average | 922.6 |
| India | 916.6 |
| UK | 363.6 |
| US | 233.6 |
| Japan | 162.6 |
The US is the leading country in terms of Whats App iOS downloads (4.88 million) with almost 2x more downloads than any other nation in Q1 2024.
Here are the top 10 nations for WhatsApp iOS downloads:
| Rank | Country | WhatsApp iOS Downloads (Q1 2024) | WhatsApp iOS Downloads (Q2 2022) |
| 1 | US | 4.88 million | 6.6 million |
| 2 | Mexico | 2.51 million | 1.46 million |
| 3 | Brazil | 2.14 million | 0.93 million |
| 4 | India | 2.05 million | 1.26 million |
| 5 | Turkey | 1.67 million | 0.88 million |
| 6 | Indonesia | 1.66 million | 0.95 million |
| 7 | Russia | 1.24 million | - |
| 8 | Germany | 0.78 million | 0.87 million |
| =9 | UK | 0.75 million | 1.21 million |
| =9 | France | 0.75 million | 0.93 million |
And here’s a breakdown of WhatsApp downloads via the Google Play Store in the same quarters:
| Rank | Country | WhatsApp Google Play Store Downloads (Q1 2024) | WhatsApp Google Play Store Downloads (Q2 2022) |
| 1 | India | 35.17 million | 5.81 million |
| 2 | Indonesia | 8.51 million | 4.49 million |
| 3 | Pakistan | 7.99 million | 1.95 million |
| 4 | Brazil | 7.58 million | 4.53 million |
| 5 | Mexico | 6.18 million | 4.99 million |
| 6 | United States | 5.26 million | 3.72 million |
| 7 | Colombia | 4.11 million | 1.66 million |
| 8 | Egypt | 4 million | - |
| 9 | Algeria | 3.69 million | - |
| 10 | Russia | 2.97 million | 2.1 million |
WhatsApp Business has seen significant growth over the past few years.
In 2018, just under 40 million people downloaded WhatsApp Business.
As of 2023, that figure had increased almost 8x, reaching 316.16 million downloads.
Below, is the number of WhatsApp Business downloads by year:
| Year | Number of WhatsApp Business Downloads |
| 2018 | 37.87 million |
| 2019 | 98.82 million |
| 2020 | 170.46 million |
| 2021 | 210.09 million |
| 2022 | 283.51 million |
| 2023 | 316.16 million |
Source: Data Reportal, Sinch Engage, Airnow, Airnow (2), AppMagic
Facebook Messenger
Despite commanding a significant proportion of the global messaging app market, Facebook Messenger has seen downloads drop from 794.61 million in 2015 to 262.53 million in 2023 – a fall of more than 66%.
These are the figures for Facebook Messenger downloads since 2015:
| Year | Facebook Messenger Downloads | Change Over Previous Year |
| 2015 | 794.61 million | - |
| 2016 | 743.03 million | ↓ 51.58 million |
| 2017 | 768.37 million | ↑ 25.34 million |
| 2018 | 782.31 million | ↑ 13.94 million |
| 2019 | 702.09 million | ↓ 80.22 million |
| 2020 | 485.63 million | ↓ 216.46 million |
| 2021 | 336.57 million | ↓ 149.06 million |
| 2022 | 329.28 million | ↓ 7.29 million |
| 2023 | 262.53 million | ↓ 66.75 million |
In terms of nations, India blows all the others out of the water for the sheer number of Facebook Messenger users. However, these 123.95 million users account for less than 10% of the total population.
By comparison, Vietnam has 56.7 million Facebook Messenger users, making up around 57% of its population.
Here are the top countries by Facebook Messenger users:
| Country | Facebook Messenger Users | Proportion of Population |
| India | 123.95 million | 8.7% |
| Philippines | 61.4 million | 52.3% |
| Mexico | 60.1 million | 46.8% |
| Brazil | 58.55 million | 27.1% |
| Vietnam | 56.7 million | 57.4% |
| Thailand | 36.7 million | 51.1% |
| Egypt | 36.15 million | 32.1% |
| Bangladesh | 30.7 million | 17.8% |
| Indonesia | 28.3 million | 10.2% |
| UK | 27.75 million | 41.0% |
Source: AppMagic, Data Reportal, Data Reportal (2), Worldometers
Snapchat
The number of daily active users on Snapchat has steadily grown over the last decade.
In fact, since Q1 2014 (46 million) the number of Snapchat users has increased more than 9x (422 million in Q1 2024).
Here’s a breakdown of active Snapchat users over time:
| Quarter, Year | Number of Daily Active Snapchat Users | North America | Europe | Rest of World |
| Q1 2014 | 46 million | 26 million | 14 million | 6 million |
| Q2 2014 | 57 million | 30 million | 18 million | 9 million |
| Q3 2014 | 62 million | 32 million | 20 million | 11 million |
| Q4 2014 | 71 million | 35 million | 23 million | 13 million |
| Q1 2015 | 80 million | 38 million | 27 million | 16 million |
| Q2 2015 | 86 million | 40 million | 29 million | 18 million |
| Q3 2015 | 94 million | 44 million | 30 million | 20 million |
| Q4 2015 | 107 million | 48 million | 34 million | 24 million |
| Q1 2016 | 122 million | 54 million | 39 million | 29 million |
| Q2 2016 | 143 million | 61 million | 46 million | 36 million |
| Q3 2016 | 153 million | 65 million | 49 million | 39 million |
| Q4 2016 | 158 million | 68 million | 52 million | 39 million |
| Q1 2017 | 166 million | 71 million | 55 million | 40 million |
| Q2 2017 | 173 million | 75 million | 57 million | 42 million |
| Q3 2017 | 178 million | 77 million | 57 million | 44 million |
| Q4 2017 | 187 million | 80 million | 60 million | 47 million |
| Q1 2018 | 191 million | 81 million | 62 million | 48 million |
| Q2 2018 | 188 million | 80 million | 61 million | 47 million |
| Q3 2018 | 186 million | 79 million | 59 million | 47 million |
| Q4 2018 | 186 million | 79 million | 60 million | 47 million |
| Q1 2019 | 190 million | 80 million | 61 million | 49 million |
| Q2 2019 | 203 million | 83 million | 64 million | 56 million |
| Q3 2019 | 210 million | 84 million | 65 million | 61 million |
| Q4 2019 | 218 million | 86 million | 67 million | 64 million |
| Q1 2020 | 229 million | 88 million | 70 million | 71 million |
| Q2 2020 | 238 million | 90 million | 71 million | 77 million |
| Q3 2020 | 249 million | 90 million | 72 million | 87 million |
| Q4 2020 | 265 million | 92 million | 74 million | 99 million |
| Q1 2021 | 280 million | 93 million | 77 million | 111 million |
| Q2 2021 | 293 million | 95 million | 78 million | 120 million |
| Q3 2021 | 306 million | 96 million | 80 million | 130 million |
| Q4 2021 | 319 million | 97 million | 82 million | 140 million |
| Q1 2022 | 332 million | 98 million | 84 million | 150 million |
| Q2 2022 | 347 million | 99 million | 86 million | 162 million |
| Q3 2022 | 363 million | 100 million | 88 million | 175 million |
| Q4 2022 | 375 million | 100 million | 92 million | 183 million |
| Q1 2023 | 383 million | 100 million | 93 million | 190 million |
| Q2 2023 | 397 million | 101 million | 94 million | 202 million |
| Q3 2023 | 406 million | 101 million | 95 million | 211 million |
| Q4 2023 | 414 million | 100 million | 96 million | 218 million |
| Q1 2024 | 422 million | 100 million | 96 million | 226 million |
India has the most total Snapchat users with over 202 million.
Combined, India (202.51 million) and the US (106.7 million) have more Snapchat users (309.21 million) than the rest of the top 20 countries put together.
| Rank | Country | Snapchat Audience |
| 1 | India | 202.51 million |
| 2 | US | 106.7 million |
| 3 | Pakistan | 31.93 million |
| 4 | France | 27.5 million |
| 5 | UK | 23.06 million |
| 6 | Saudi Arabia | 22.74 million |
| 7 | Germany | 19.69 million |
| 8 | Iraq | 17.95 million |
| 9 | Egypt | 16.96 million |
| 10 | Mexico | 15.92 million |
| 11 | Nigeria | 15.29 million |
| 12 | Turkey | 15.0 million |
| 13= | Russia | 7.85 million |
| 13= | Australia | 7.85 million |
| 15 | Algeria | 7.34 million |
| 16 | Netherlands | 6.84 million |
| 17 | Brazil | 6.62 million |
| 18 | Morocco | 5.81 million |
| 19 | Poland | 5.52 million |
Sources: Snap Inc., Snap Inc. (2), Data Reportal
Telegram
As of April 2024, there are approximately 900 million Telegram users - that figure accounts for around 11.1% of the world’s population. Only taking into account those aged 16+, that’s 15.1% of the global population.
Males make up 57.6% of all Telegram users.
Instant messaging app Telegram has seen a steady increase in quarterly downloads over time.
In Q4 2023, Telegram received 114.55 million downloads – more than double Q1 2020’s 55.81 million.
Regionally, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa lead the way with 46.17 million combined downloads in Q4 2023. That figure was closely followed by Asia-Pacific’s total of 44.45 million downloads.
Here’s a look at Telegram’s download figures over time:
| Quarter, Year | Telegram Downloads | Asia-Pacific | Europe, the Middle East, and Africa | North America and Latin America |
| Q1 2020 | 55.81 million | 21.99 million | 24.5 million | 9.32 million |
| Q2 2020 | 82.77 million | 37.55 million | 29.03 million | 16.19 million |
| Q3 2020 | 88.09 million | 42.38 million | 26.8 million | 18.91 million |
| Q4 2020 | 97.83 million | 53.82 million | 29.92 million | 14.09 million |
| Q1 2021 | 166.83 million | 61.77 million | 51.25 million | 53.81 million |
| Q2 2021 | 79.56 million | 35.61 million | 26.34 million | 17.61 million |
| Q3 2021 | 84.77 million | 40.16 million | 26.7 million | 17.91 million |
| Q4 2021 | 98.59 million | 46.94 million | 32.48 million | 19.17 million |
| Q1 2022 | 98.39 million | 42.92 million | 35.05 million | 20.42 million |
| Q2 2022 | 96.82 million | 41.45 million | 34.79 million | 20.58 million |
| Q3 2022 | 91.51 million | 38.73 million | 32.15 million | 20.63 million |
| Q4 2022 | 94.69 million | 40.18 million | 34.56 million | 19.95 million |
| Q1 2023 | 96.88 million | 39.39 million | 35.25 million | 22.24 million |
| Q2 2023 | 100.54 million | 40.81 million | 36.42 million | 23.31 million |
| Q3 2023 | 113.52 million | 46.73 million | 42.41 million | 24.38 million |
| Q4 2023 | 114.55 million | 44.45 million | 46.17 million | 23.93 million |
In the US alone, Telegram was downloaded 7.25 million times in Q3 of 2023. Brazil recorded the second-highest number of downloads in the Americas in the same period, with 5.81 million.
Here’s a closer look at Telegram download figures for selected countries in North and South America.
| Rank | Country | Number of downloads (Q3 2023) |
| 1 | USA | 7.25 million |
| 2 | Brazil | 5.81 million |
| 3 | Mexico | 3.65 million |
| 4 | Colombia | 2.16 million |
| 5= | Argentina | 1.26 million |
| 5= | Peru | 1.26 million |
| 7 | Chile | 0.69 million |
| 8 | Canada | 0.47 million |
The most popular channel category on Telegram is news with 85% of users following a news channel.
At least half of Telegram users also use entertainment (62%), educational (58%), and political (50%) channels.
Here are the most popular Telegram channel categories:
| Rank | Telegram Channel Category | Popularity |
| 1 | News | 85% |
| 2 | Entertainment | 62% |
| 3 | Educational | 58% |
| 4 | Political | 50% |
| 5 | News from own industry | 48% |
| 6 | Personal channels of friends | 45% |
| 7 | Special military operation | 36% |
| 8 | Bloggers and celebrities | 31% |
| 9 | Internal channels of companies | 19% |
| 10 | Brands/companies | 17% |
| 11 | Products and discounts | 16% |
| 12 | Channels with job offers | 14% |
| 13 | Channels for adults | 13% |
| 14 | Darknet-channels | 4% |
Source: Data Reportal, Statista, TGStat
As of April 2024, WeChat has 1.34 billion monthly users.
That figure makes up 16.6% of the global population (21.1% when discounting under 13s).
There are slightly more males than females using WeChat with 52.3% of the user base identifying as such.
Source: Data Reportal
Tencent QQ
The latest data shows that there are approximately 554 million monthly active QQ users in Q1 2024, which is a drop of 4 million on the previous quarter.
That’s 6.8% of the global population or 8.7% if discounting under 13s.
Just under half (48%) of QQ users are female.
Source: Data Reportal
Discord
There are around 200 million monthly active users on Discord.
Discord users make up 2.5% of the world’s population. If only counting those aged 13+, that figure grows to 3.1%.
Males outnumber females by over 2:1 on Discord (67.3% vs 31.5%).
Source: Data Reportal
How Many People Use Messaging Apps?
More than 3 billion people actively use messaging apps. A previous estimate has predicted that figure could rise to 3.5 billion by 2025.
Here’s a breakdown of how that figure has changed over time:
| Year | Messaging App Users | Change Over Previous Year |
| 2016 | 2.11 billion | - |
| 2017 | 2.38 billion | +270 million |
| 2018 | 2.52 billion | +140 million |
| 2019 | 2.81 billion | +290 million |
| 2020 | 3.19 billion | +380 million |
| 2021 | 3.32 billion | +130 million |
Sources: Business of Apps, Statista
Regional Messaging App Stats
WhatsApp is the leading messaging app in 63 countries including:
- Brazil
- Egypt
- France
- Germany
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Mexico
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- Spain
- UK
Facebook Messenger is the most popular messaging app in 16 nations including:
- Australia
- Canada
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Sweden
- US
Telegram is the top messaging app in 10 countries.
Viber is top in 4 countries.
Line is the most popular messaging app in Japan and Thailand.
WeChat is number one in China, KakaoTalk is top in South Korea, and Zalo is the market leader in Vietnam.
Source: SimilarWeb
Conclusion
Messaging apps continue to go from strength to strength with WhatsApp firmly leading the way.
For more related content, take a look at our other blog posts: Top Social Media Platforms and Top 20 New Social Media Networks.
