- Internet›
- Social Media & User-Generated Content›
Number of monthly active WhatsApp users as of 2013-2017
Number of monthly active WhatsApp users as of 2013-2017
Number of monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide from April 2013 to December 2017 (in millions)
This statistic shows a timeline with the amount of monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide as of December 2017. As of that month, the mobile messaging app announced more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, up from over 1 billion MAU in February 2016. The service is one of the most popular mobile apps worldwide.
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 18.8 million users in 2016 and is set to grow to 25.6 million users 2021.
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.
In February 2014, social network Facebook acquired WhatsApp for 19 billion U.S. dollars.
Number of monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide from April 2013 to December 2017 (in millions)
| Number of monthly active users in millions | |
|---|---|
| Dec '17 | 1,500 |
| Jul '17 | 1,300 |
| Jan '17 | 1,200 |
| Feb '16 | 1,000 |
| Sep '15 | 900 |
| Apr '15 | 800 |
| Jan '15 | 700 |
| Aug '14 | 600 |
| Apr '14 | 500 |
| Feb '14 | 465 |
| Jan '14 | 430 |
| Dec '13 | 400 |
| Oct '13 | 350 |
| Aug '13 | 300 |
| Jun '13 | 250 |
| Apr '13 | 200 |
| Number of monthly active users in millions | |
|---|---|
| Dec '17 | 1,500 |
| Jul '17 | 1,300 |
| Jan '17 | 1,200 |
| Feb '16 | 1,000 |
| Sep '15 | 900 |
| Apr '15 | 800 |
| Jan '15 | 700 |
| Aug '14 | 600 |
| Apr '14 | 500 |
| Feb '14 | 465 |
| Jan '14 | 430 |
| Dec '13 | 400 |
| Oct '13 | 350 |
| Aug '13 | 300 |
| Jun '13 | 250 |
| Apr '13 | 200 |
© Statista 2019
About this statistic
Sources: WhatsApp; Facebook
Please be patient - this may take a moment
Description
Source
More information
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 18.8 million users in 2016 and is set to grow to 25.6 million users 2021.
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.
In February 2014, social network Facebook acquired WhatsApp for 19 billion U.S. dollars.
- Sources
- WhatsApp; Facebook
- Show further sources information
- As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic.
- Show publisher information
- Release date
- January 2018
- Region
- Worldwide
- Survey time period
- April 2013 to December 2017
- Supplementary notes
- Data regarding April 2013 was taken from an April 2013 interview with WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum.
Source
- Sources
- WhatsApp; Facebook
- Show further sources information
- As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic.
- Show publisher information
- Release date
- January 2018
More information
- Region
- Worldwide
- Survey time period
- April 2013 to December 2017
- Supplementary notes
- Data regarding April 2013 was taken from an April 2013 interview with WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum.
Other statistics on the topic
WhatsApp
Mobile Internet & Apps
Most popular global mobile messenger apps 2019

Social Media & User-Generated Content
Daily active users of Snapchat 2014-2019

Social Media & User-Generated Content
Number of active WeChat messenger accounts Q2 2012-Q2 2019

Social Media & User-Generated Content
Viber: number of registered user IDs 2011-2019
You only have access to basic statistics.
- Instant access to 1m statistics
- Download in XLS, PDF & PNG format
- Detailed references
$49 / Month *
Corporate solution including all features.
Prices do not include sales tax.
Free Dossier Deal
- 128 page/s
- English
- pptx
- Detailed references
Everything On "Mobile messenger apps" in One Document: Edited and Divided into Handy Chapters. Including Detailed References.
Purchase a Premium Account Subscription Now and Get a Free Dossier worth $365.
I think of Statista as Google for researchers. Statista provides you with the information you search for right away.Dr. Horst Stipp
EVP, Research & Innovation, Advertising Research Foundation
- Overview
- Media usage in an internet minute as of March 2019Media usage in an online minute 2019
- Number of mobile phone messaging app users worldwide from 2016 to 2021 (in billions)Global number of mobile messaging users 2016-2021
- Year-on-year worldwide mobile phone messaging app user growth from 2016 to 2021Global mobile messaging user growth 2016-2021
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017U.S. mobile communication channel preference 2017
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017, by age groupU.S. mobile communication channel preference 2017, by age group
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017, by genderU.S. mobile communication channel preference 2017, by gender
- Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of the following social media platforms?U.S. favorable or unfavorable opinion of leading social media platforms 2018
- Usage behavior
- Average time spent per day with mobile messaging apps by adults in the United States 2015 to 2019U.S. adult daily mobile messaging app engagement 2015-2019
- Distribution of time spent on mobile apps in the United States in June 2017, by categoryShare of time spent on mobile apps in the United States 2017, by category
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017U.S. mobile communication channel preference 2017
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017, by genderU.S. mobile communication channel preference 2017, by gender
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017, by age groupU.S. mobile communication channel preference 2017, by age group
- Preferred mobile communication app according to internet users in the United States as of August 2017Most popular mobile messenger in the U.S. 2017
- Share of internet users in the United States who have used selected messenger apps to communicate with others as of August 2017Recent communication app usage in the U.S. 2017
- Social networks accessed several times per day by internet users in the United States as of January 2018Social networks with daily U.S. user engagement 2018
- Leading messaging apps
- Most popular global mobile messenger apps as of July 2019, based on number of monthly active users (in millions)Most popular global mobile messenger apps 2019
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by monthly active users (in millions)Leading mobile messengers in the U.S. 2019, by users
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by mobile reachLeading mobile messengers in the U.S. 2019, by reach
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by usage sessionsLeading mobile messengers in the U.S. 2019, by monthly sessions
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by user engagement (in minutes per month)Leading mobile messengers in the U.S. 2019, by monthly usage
- Number of monthly active Telegram users worldwide from March 2014 to March 2018 (in millions)Telegram messenger global MAU 2014-2018
- Number of unique Viber user IDs from June 2011 to March 2019 (in millions)Viber: number of registered user IDs 2011-2019
- Facebook Messenger
- Number of monthly active Facebook Messenger users from April 2014 to September 2017 (in millions)Facebook Messenger: number of monthly active users 2014-2017
- Number of Facebook Messenger users in the United States from 2018 to 2022 (in millions)U.S. number of Facebook Messenger users 2018-2022
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by genderFacebook Messenger usage reach in the United States 2018, by gender
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by age groupFacebook Messenger usage reach in the United States 2018, by age group
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by annual household income (in U.S. dollars)Facebook Messenger usage reach in the United States 2018, by annual household income
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by urbanityFacebook Messenger usage reach in the United States 2018, by urbanity
- Frequency of Facebook Messenger use in the United States as of January 2018Facebook Messenger usage frequency in the United States 2018
- Number of monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide from April 2013 to December 2017 (in millions)Number of monthly active WhatsApp users as of 2013-2017
- Number of daily active WhatsApp Status users from 1st quarter 2017 to 1st quarter 2019 (in millions)Daily active users of WhatsApp Status 2019
- Number of WhatsApp users in the United States from 2019 to 2023 (in millions)U.S. number of WhatsApp users 2019-2023
- Selected emerging mobile markets with the highest WhatsApp penetration rate as of 3rd quarter 2017WhatsApp: popularity in emerging markets 2017
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by genderWhatsApp usage reach in the United States 2018, by gender
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by age groupWhatsApp usage reach in the United States 2018, by age group
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by annual household income (in U.S. dollars)WhatsApp usage reach in the United States 2018, by annual household income
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by urbanityWhatsApp usage reach in the United States 2018, by urbanity
- Snapchat
- Number of photo messages created by Snapchat users every day from 3rd quarter 2016 to 3rd quarter 2017 (in billions)Number of daily snaps created by Snapchat users worldwide 2017
- Number of daily active Snapchat users from 1st quarter 2014 to 2nd quarter 2019 (in millions)Daily active users of Snapchat 2014-2019
- Number of daily active Snapchat users from 1st quarter 2014 to 2nd quarter 2019, by region (in millions)Daily active users of Snapchat 2014-2019, by region
- Number of Snapchat users in the United States from 2017 to 2023 (in millions)U.S. number of Snapchat users 2017-2023
- Snapchat user penetration in the United States from 2017 to 2023U.S. Snapchat user penetration 2017-2023
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Snapchat as of January 2018, by age groupSnapchat usage reach in the United States 2018, by age group
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Snapchat as of January 2018, by urbanitySnapchat usage reach in the United States 2018, by urbanity
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Snapchat as of January 2018, by genderSnapchat usage reach in the United States 2018, by gender
- Asia-based messengers
- Most popular Asia-based mobile messenger apps as of 4th quarter 2017, based on number of monthly active users (in millions)Most popular Asia-based mobile messenger apps 2017
- Number of monthly active LINE users in Japan as of 1st quarter 2019 (in millions)LINE: number of monthly active users in Japan 2013-2019
- Number of global monthly active Kakaotalk users from 1st quarter 2013 to 1st quarter 2019 (in millions)Kakaotalk: number of monthly active users worldwide 2013-2019
- Number of monthly active WeChat users from 2nd quarter 2012 to 2nd quarter 2019 (in millions)Number of active WeChat messenger accounts Q2 2012-Q2 2019
- Arab WhatsApp penetration 2014
- Brazil: usage of WhatsApp voice call function 2016-2017
- Brazil: usage of functions in selected mobile messaging apps 2017
- Brazil: reliance on WhatsApp as news source 2019, by age
- WhatsApp: annual revenue 2012-2014
- WhatsApp: annual net loss 2012-2014
- Chile: reliance on WhatsApp as news source 2019, by age
- Mexico: reliance on WhatsApp as news source 2019, by age
- Argentina: reliance on WhatsApp as news source 2019, by age
- Mobile messenger app usage of iPhone users in Australia as of June 2013
- UK Survey 2013: Interest in free or low-cost calling and messaging apps
- Latin America: WhatsApp user penetration 2016-2018
- Latin America: YouTube user penetration 2016-2018
- Mobile messenger app usage of iPhone users in the United Kingdom (UK) as of June 2013
- Distribution of WhatsApp users in the United Kingdom (UK) 2018, by frequency of use
- Internet users: interest in contacting companies via WhatsApp in Spain 2015, by type
- Gender distribution of WhatsApp users in the Netherlands 2016
- Mobile messengers: most popular features in emerging markets 2014
- Amount of texts exchanged daily via WhatsApp by rural users in India 2018
- Illinois Tool Works - R&D expenses 2001-2018
- WhatsApp
- Mobile messenger apps
- Facebook Messenger
- LINE
- Social media usage in the Netherlands
- Facebook in the United Kingdom (UK)
- Facebook usage in the Nordic countries
- Sizing Up Twitter Users
- Snapchat
- Social media usage in India
- Social media usage in the United Kingdom (UK)
- Social networks usage in Spain
- Social media usage in Belgium
- Twitter in the United Kingdom (UK)
- Internet usage in the Netherlands
- Media usage in an internet minute as of March 2019
- Number of mobile phone messaging app users worldwide from 2016 to 2021 (in billions)
- Year-on-year worldwide mobile phone messaging app user growth from 2016 to 2021
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017, by age group
- Mobile communication preference of internet users in the United States as of August 2017, by gender
- Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of the following social media platforms?
- Average time spent per day with mobile messaging apps by adults in the United States 2015 to 2019
- Distribution of time spent on mobile apps in the United States in June 2017, by category
- Preferred mobile communication app according to internet users in the United States as of August 2017
- Share of internet users in the United States who have used selected messenger apps to communicate with others as of August 2017
- Social networks accessed several times per day by internet users in the United States as of January 2018
- Most common apps accessed before shopping device sessions in the United States as of December 2017
- Most common apps accessed after shopping device sessions in the United States as of December 2017
- How often do you use the group chat function of text messaging (SMS) or online messaging applications?
- Frequency of using group chat function of text messaging (SMS) or online messaging applications according to adults in the United States as of December 2017, by gender
- Frequency of using group chat function of text messaging (SMS) or online messaging applications according to adults in the United States as of December 2017, by age group
- Most popular global mobile messenger apps as of July 2019, based on number of monthly active users (in millions)
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by monthly active users (in millions)
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by mobile reach
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by usage sessions
- Most popular mobile messaging apps in the United States as of March 2019, by user engagement (in minutes per month)
- Number of monthly active Telegram users worldwide from March 2014 to March 2018 (in millions)
- Number of unique Viber user IDs from June 2011 to March 2019 (in millions)
- Number of monthly active Facebook Messenger users from April 2014 to September 2017 (in millions)
- Number of Facebook Messenger users in the United States from 2018 to 2022 (in millions)
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by gender
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by age group
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by annual household income (in U.S. dollars)
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Facebook Messenger as of January 2018, by urbanity
- Frequency of Facebook Messenger use in the United States as of January 2018
- Number of monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide from April 2013 to December 2017 (in millions)
- Number of daily active WhatsApp Status users from 1st quarter 2017 to 1st quarter 2019 (in millions)
- Number of WhatsApp users in the United States from 2019 to 2023 (in millions)
- Selected emerging mobile markets with the highest WhatsApp penetration rate as of 3rd quarter 2017
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by gender
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by age group
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by annual household income (in U.S. dollars)
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use WhatsApp as of January 2018, by urbanity
- Frequency of WhatsApp use in the United States as of January 2018
- Number of mobile messages sent through WhatsApp as of 4th quarter 2017 (in billions)
- Number of photo messages created by Snapchat users every day from 3rd quarter 2016 to 3rd quarter 2017 (in billions)
- Number of daily active Snapchat users from 1st quarter 2014 to 2nd quarter 2019 (in millions)
- Number of daily active Snapchat users from 1st quarter 2014 to 2nd quarter 2019, by region (in millions)
- Number of Snapchat users in the United States from 2017 to 2023 (in millions)
- Snapchat user penetration in the United States from 2017 to 2023
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Snapchat as of January 2018, by age group
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Snapchat as of January 2018, by urbanity
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Snapchat as of January 2018, by gender
- Percentage of U.S. internet users who use Snapchat as of January 2018, by annual household income (in U.S. dollars)
- Most popular Asia-based mobile messenger apps as of 4th quarter 2017, based on number of monthly active users (in millions)
- Number of monthly active LINE users in Japan as of 1st quarter 2019 (in millions)
- Number of global monthly active Kakaotalk users from 1st quarter 2013 to 1st quarter 2019 (in millions)
- Number of monthly active WeChat users from 2nd quarter 2012 to 2nd quarter 2019 (in millions)
- WhatsApp penetration in selected Arab countries as of November 2014
- Share of smartphone owners who claimed to use the voice call function in WhatsApp in Brazil in 2016 and 2017
- Share of smartphone owners who claimed to use selected functions in mobile messaging apps in Brazil as of July 2017, by type
- Share of news consumers who used WhatsApp as a source of news in Brazil in 2019, by age group
- Annual revenue of WhatsApp from 2012 to 1st half 2014 (in million U.S. dollars)
- Annual net loss of WhatsApp from 2012 to 1st half 2014 (in million U.S. dollars)
- Share of news consumers who used WhatsApp as a source of news in Chile in 2019, by age group
- Share of news consumers who used WhatsApp as a source of news in Mexico in 2019, by age group
- Share of news consumers who used WhatsApp as a source of news in Argentina in 2019, by age group
- Mobile messenger app reach among iPhone users in Australia as of June 2013
- How interesting are free or low-cost calling and messaging apps like Whatsapp, Nimbuzz or Viber?
- WhatsApp user penetration in Latin America from 2016 to 2018
- YouTube usage penetration in Latin America from 2016 to 2018
- Mobile messenger app reach among iPhone users in the United Kingdom (UK) as of June 2013
- Distribution of WhatsApp users in the United Kingdom (UK) in January 2018, by the frequency of use*
- Internet users' interest in contacting companies via WhatsApp in Spain in 2015, by type of company
- Gender distribution of WhatsApp users in the Netherlands in 2016
- Most popular mobile messenger app features in selected emerging markets as of February 2014
- Amount of texts exchanged daily via WhatsApp by rural Indians in 2018
- Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s research and development expenses from FY 2001 to FY 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Statista offers dossiers and reports on over 170 industries. With Statista you are always able to make informed decisions and boost your work efficiency.
- Social Media
- E-Commerce
- Online Video & Entertainment
- Advertising & Marketing
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Cleaning Products
- Cosmetics & Personal Care
- Food & Nutrition
- Health & Hygiene
- International Trade
- Shopping Behavior
- Sports & Leisure
- Business Travel
- Leisure Travel
- Accomodation
- Restaurants
- Demographics
- Economy
- Education & Science
- Politics & Government
- Aviation
- Rail Transport
- Vehicles & Road Traffic
- Water Transport
Register in seconds and access exclusive features.
Basic Account
|
Instant Access
Premium Account
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
Our services
Click the question mark for further information | Free |
$49 per month* | |
| Basic statistics | |||
| Premium statistics | |||
|
Graph download
| |||
| Download PDF | |||
|
Excel download
| |||
| Register | Purchase now | ||
This feature is limited to our corporate solutions.
Please contact us to get started with full access to dossiers, forecasts, studies and international data.
We use cookies to personalize contents and ads, offer social media features, and analyze access to our website. In your browser settings you can configure or disable this, respectively, and can delete any already placed cookies. For details, please see your browser’s Help section (by pressing F1). Please see our privacy statement for details about how we use data.

