Instant messaging apps are one of the most-used platforms in this modern world.
Aside from the convenience they bring to all users, messages are quickly sent and received. The most popular mobile messaging app worldwide is WhatsApp.
This platform was launched in 2009 and immediately acquired over 100 million active users in just three years.
Facebook saw this as a future threat to its messaging feature, that’s why it bought WhatsApp for a total of $21.8 billion in 2014.
If WhatsApp flourished after being launched and exceeded a hundred million users in just a few years, have you ever wondered how many people use WhatsApp in 2025? Let’s find out.
WhatsApp Users: How Many People Use WhatsApp in 2025?
WhatsApp is the most popular mobile messaging app in more than 180 countries and the third-most leading social network, next to Facebook and YouTube.
The number of people using WhatsApp has grown exponentially since it was introduced to the public.
As of Q4 2022, there are more than 2.44 billion WhatsApp active users worldwide. This is up from 10 million in 2010.
WhatsApp became a significant communication tool for all its users, especially for businesses to reach their customers easily.
More than 5 million businesses used this platform in 2019. Because of its uses, the number of monthly active users constantly increases each year.
The Number of WhatsApp Active Users
Here are the numbers of WhatsApp active users from 2010 to 2022:
- WhatsApp reached 10 million active users in October 2010
- WhatsApp reached 50 million active users in December 2011
- WhatsApp reached 100 million active users in October 2012
- WhatsApp reached 400 million active users in December 2013
- WhatsApp reached 600 million active users in August 2014
- WhatsApp reached 900 million active users in September 2015
- WhatsApp reached 1.00 billion active users in February 2016
- WhatsApp reached 1.50 billion active users in December 2017
- WhatsApp reached 1.66 billion active users in December 2018
- WhatsApp reached 1.98 billion active users in December 2019
- WhatsApp reached 2.00 billion active users in February 2020
- WhatsApp reached 2.16 billion active users in September 2021
- WhatsApp reached 2.44 billion active users in December 2022
What Country Has the Most WhatsApp Users?
Based on the most recent report, India remains the country with the most WhatsApp users.
Approximately 487.5 million people in India used this platform in 2023, up from 390 million the previous year.
While the United States, where the platform was launched, was the fourth country with the most WhatsApp users, accounting for 79.6 million.
Users in this country are forecasted to grow to 85.8 million by the end of the year.
Top 10 Countries with the Most WhatsApp Users
Below are the ten countries with the highest number of WhatsApp users in 2023:
- India has 487.5 million WhatsApp users
- Brazil has 118.5 million WhatsApp users
- Indonesia has 84.8 million WhatsApp users
- The United States has 79.6 million WhatsApp users
- Russia has 67 million WhatsApp users
- Mexico has 60 million WhatsApp users
- Germany has 49.2 million WhatsApp users
- Italy has 36.9 million WhatsApp users
- Spain has 32.2 million WhatsApp users
- Argentina has 26.5 million WhatsApp users
How Many Messages Are Sent on WhatsApp Per Day?
Data reveals that as of December 2020, over 100 billion messages are sent daily on WhatsApp, equivalent to approximately 1.16 million messages per second.
The platform’s exchange of messages has increased by more than half since 2018.
Let’s take a look at how many messages are sent on WhatsApp per day from 2011 to 2020:
- In October 2011, there were 1 billion messages sent on WhatsApp per day
- In January 2015, there were 30 billion messages sent on WhatsApp per day
- In February 2016, there were 42 billion messages sent on WhatsApp per day
- In July 2017, there were 55 billion messages sent on WhatsApp per day
- In March 2018, there were 65 billion messages sent on WhatsApp per day
- In December 2020, there were more than 100 billion messages sent on WhatsApp per day
How Much Time Do People Use WhatsApp?
Statistics show that users spent an average of 18.6 hours per month using WhatsApp in 2021, equivalent to almost 37 minutes daily.
However, users in Brazil and Indonesia spent an average of 29 hours per month or 57 minutes daily.
It is quite surprising that WhatsApp users in the US spent only 7.6 hours per month or around 15 minutes daily, and users in Australia spent less than 6 hours per month.
WhatsApp is Restricted in What Countries?
WhatsApp is one of the most-used platforms for communication worldwide since people can message their loved ones at any time.
However, some countries find this platform unacceptable due to its strong end-to-end encryption.
These include China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Most Popular Mobile Messaging App
Instant messaging apps are platforms that offer real-time message transmission through the use of the internet.
These platforms allow users to send free text, audio, and video messages using their mobile devices.
Some of the most-used instant messaging apps are WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, QQ, Snapchat, and Telegram.
These are great alternatives to operator-based messaging.
As of January 2022, WhatsApp was the most popular mobile messaging app worldwide in terms of monthly active users.
It had around 2 billion monthly active users, while WeChat had 1.26 billion, and Facebook Messenger had 988 million.
Top Social Media Platforms
WhatsApp was the third leading social media platform worldwide in 2023, based on monthly active users. It is next to Facebook and YouTube.
Meta owns four of the ten leading social networks, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.
Here are the top five social media platforms as of January 2023 by monthly active users:
- Facebook generated 2.96 billion monthly active users in January 2023
- YouTube generated 2.60 billion monthly active users in January 2023
- WhatsApp generated 2.44 billion monthly active users in January 2023
- Instagram generated 2.30 billion monthly active users in January 2023
- TikTok generated 1.60 billion monthly active users in January 2023
How Many Times Was WhatsApp Downloaded?
WhatsApp cumulative downloads exceeded 5 billion in 2021 and currently have more than 5.7 billion.
The United States has the most WhatsApp downloads on the App Store as of Q2 2022, recording 6.6 million downloads.
India has the most WhatsApp downloads on Google Play Store during the same quarter of the year, with 5.81 million downloads.
Number of WhatsApp Cumulative Downloads
The following are the numbers of WhatsApp cumulative downloads from 2013 to 2022:
- WhatsApp recorded 0.5 billion cumulative downloads in 2013
- WhatsApp recorded 0.8 billion cumulative downloads in 2014
- WhatsApp recorded 1.2 billion cumulative downloads in 2015
- WhatsApp recorded 2.0 billion cumulative downloads in 2016
- WhatsApp recorded 2.9 billion cumulative downloads in 2017
- WhatsApp recorded 3.4 billion cumulative downloads in 2018
- WhatsApp recorded 4.3 billion cumulative downloads in 2019
- WhatsApp recorded 4.9 billion cumulative downloads in 2020
- WhatsApp recorded 5.3 billion cumulative downloads in 2021
- WhatsApp recorded 5.7 billion cumulative downloads in 2022
Conclusion
People mostly communicate through messaging platforms since they are available on mobile devices.
A survey reveals that seven out of ten people use messaging services daily for work.
One of the most-used apps for communication is WhatsApp.
About 50% of WhatsApp users in the US use the app daily.
Now you know how many people use WhatsApp today and other exciting information about this market leader in messaging services – which is more than 2.4 billion active users.