Number of WhatsApp Users (2020–2023)
WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, boasts two billion monthly active users globally, making it the second-most-popular social media network. As many as one in six consumers also list it as their “favorite” social media network.
But what about the number of unique WhatsApp users? In other words, how many users does WhatsApp have in total, independent of how many times they access the app and how often they do so? Here’s a breakdown of the number of unique WhatsApp users worldwide.
Number of unique WhatsApp users worldwide
A study on WhatsApp’s growth shows the number of unique WhatsApp users has increased in recent years. According to the latest figures, as of June 2023, there are 2.79 billion unique WhatsApp users globally. This represents a 0.76% increase from the previous month and a 12.23% year-on-year rise.
The report shows that WhatsApp has increased its number of unique users every single month since at least January 2020. That month, there were 1.81 billion unique users—around two-thirds of the current figure. It rose to 1.93 billion just six months later. By the start of 2021, the number had hit 2.08 billion, after having crossed the two billion milestone in October 2020.
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WhatsApp’s user base continued to grow, adding 50 million unique users in the first half of 2021 alone. The app began 2022 with 2.21 billion unique users, and in one year, increased its number of users by nearly half a billion, or 21.43%, to 2.68 billion in January 2023.
The biggest month-on-month increase between January 2020 and June 2023 came in May 2022, when the number of users rose by 211 million, the equivalent of 9.41%.
In 3.5 years, WhatsApp grew its base of unique users by nearly one billion. This marks an overall increase of 53.79%.
WhatsApp’s user base: ranked by country
WhatsApp’s popularity varies from country to country. It has nearly half a billion users in India. This is followed by Brazil and Indonesia, with 118.5 million and 84.8 million, respectively.
In terms of penetration, WhatsApp’s usage is highest in Brazil, where it is accessed by 98.9% of the population. Next on the list is India, with 97.1%, and Italy, with 97%.