Telegram global downloads 2023, by country
India was the leading market of Telegram by app downloads. Between January and December 2023, Indian users installed the messaging app approximately 84 million times. Russia ranked second, with over 35 million downloads over the observed period, while U.S. users installed the app nearly 30 million times. Brazil recorded the largest number of downloads among Latin American countries. France and Italy 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, nearly 462 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 2023, Telegram had 800 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.
