Number of WhatsApp Users (2020–2024)
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 WhatsApp users: highlights
- As of June 2024, there are 2.96 billion unique WhatsApp users worldwide.
- From January 2020 to June 2024, the number of WhatsApp users increased by more than 1.1 billion, a rise of 63.1%.
- India is home to the biggest number of WhatsApp users, with more than half a billion. Brazil and the United States follow.
WhatsApp: number of users worldwide (2020–2024)
|
Month |
Number of WhatsApp users |
|
Jan 2020 |
1.81 billion |
|
Jun 2020 |
1.93 billion |
|
Jan 2021 |
2.08 billion |
|
Jun 2021 |
2.13 billion |
|
Jan 2022 |
2.21 billion |
|
Jun 2022 |
2.49 billion |
|
Jan 2023 |
2.68 billion |
|
Jun 2023 |
2.77 billion |
|
Jan 2024 |
2.88 billion |
|
Jun 2024 |
2.96 billion |
Growth in the number of WhatsApp users: 2020–2024
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 2024, there are 2.96 billion unique WhatsApp users globally. This represents a 0.51% increase from the previous month and a 6.95% 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.
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 4.5 years, WhatsApp grew its base of unique users by more than 1.1 billion. This marks an overall increase of 63.1%.
Number of WhatsApp users by country
WhatsApp’s popularity varies from country to country. It has more than half a billion users in India. This is followed by Brazil and the United States, with 139.34 million and 91.31 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%.