In this article, we will be taking a look at 20 countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of the instant messaging market, you can go directly to see 5 Countries with Most WhatsApp Users in 2023.
As the most popular messaging app, WhatsApp is used by people all over the world. It is especially popular in countries where there is a high penetration of smartphones and where data costs are relatively low. The popularity of WhatsApp is due to its ease of use, its free messaging features, and its support for group chats.
The Instant Messaging App Market: A Growing Industry
The COVID-19 crisis had a positive influence on the instant messaging app market. While the pandemic caused huge losses for businesses around the world and hurt many industries and markets, it gave rise to the unfavorable circumstances for many people to stay at home. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in the use of instant messaging apps. These apps provided a much-needed source of entertainment and relaxation to people who were looking for ways to stay connected with loved ones and others they could not meet in person.
According to a report by Business Research Insights, the global instant messaging app market was valued at $24.21 billion in 2022. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.3% during 2022-2028, propelling the market to reach around $41.23 billion by the end of the forecasted period. With many people working from home, the shift towards remote work accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Messaging apps became an important instrument for remote teams to collaborate and communicate effectively. Many businesses and teams now rely on messaging apps to maintain communication with their workforce and colleagues, making the instant messaging app market more critical than ever. Moreover, the lines between social media and messaging apps are blurring. Messaging apps make headway as they evolve to incorporate social media features, which makes them more appealing to consumers, especially the younger generations. This trend has been a key factor driving growth in the instant messaging app market, and it is expected to continue during the forecast period.
In one of our previous articles about countries with the most smartphone users, we briefly discussed an upcoming trend in the form of a surge in smartphone usage. With the increasing availability of smartphones the number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to continue growing. More people will have access to mobile apps, including messenger apps, which will drive the demand for instant messaging. Notable players in the instant messaging app market that are expected to benefit during the forecast period include Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
The instant messaging market is subject to various regulations. These regulations can be related to data protection, privacy, and content moderation, and compliance with these regulations can prove to be costly and challenging for messaging service providers. Such regulations can limit the growth potential of the instant messaging app market.
On September 6, Reuters reported that as part of its latest crackdown on Big Tech, the European Union has picked out 22 “gatekeeper” services to face new rules. The Digital Markets Act (DMA), designed to level the playing field between the tech giants and smaller competitors, will apply to services from Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), among others. Under the DMA, companies with a market capitalisation of EUR 75 billion and more than 45 million monthly active users will be labeled as “gatekeepers”. These corporations will be required to make their messaging apps interoperate with competitors and let consumers decide which apps they want to pre-install on their devices. Corporations that fail to comply can be fined up to 10% of their annual global turnover.
With regards to Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) very own instant messaging service, an Apple spokesperson said:
“iMessage is designed and marketed for personal consumer communications, and we look forward to explaining to the commission why iMessage is outside the scope of the DMA.”
In a separate post, on August 31, Reuters reported that in an effort to avoid a possible EU antitrust fine, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has agreed to unbundle its Teams chat and video app from its Office product and make it easier for competing products to work with its software. According to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Microsoft Teams has an instant messaging platform and allows for communication and collaboration in real time. The report by Reuters also mentions that the changes, effective from October 1, will apply in the EU and Switzerland. Customers will be allowed to switch to a version of Office that excludes Teams at a price EUR 2 per month cheaper than with Teams. New customers can choose to buy Teams separately for EUR 5 per month.
Meta’s $19 Billion WhatsApp Acquisition: Is it Finally Going to Pay Off?
With billions of monthly active users around the world, WhatsApp is the most popular instant messaging app in the world. It has been almost a decade since Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, announced his company’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, a tiny business but a popular messaging app. Facebook and WhatsApp are both owned and operated by Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META).
On September 1, CNBC reported that over half of the world’s 5.3 billion internet users are on WhatsApp, making it the world’s largest social messaging app. According to Alex Newton-Rex, Head of Product at WhatsApp, WhatsApp already had around 200 million users at the time of its acquisition in 2014. Usage has surged over the years and now more than 2 billion people use the messaging app. However, WhatsApp’s true value to Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has long been unclear as the company doesn’t reveal the size of the business. Nick Lane, founder and chief insight analyst of research firm Mobilesquared, estimates its revenue to be between $500 million and $1 billion, a very tiny portion of Meta Platforms Inc. ‘s (NASDAQ:META) overall revenue, which was $116.6 billion in 2022.
The report also mentions that the company is rolling out new features, such as Channels. WhatsApp’s Channels feature will allow users to get updates from individuals, business, or organizations like sports teams, in a newsfeed-like format. This feature is available in Singapore and Colombia. WhatsApp is also getting into payments, allowing users to link their bank accounts and send money through the chat interface, and this feature is currently available in India, Brazil, and Singapore.
When it comes to revenue growth, WhatsApp is focused on its business messaging platform, which it has been expanding for the past few years in markets like Brazil, India, and Indonesia. WhatsApp charges medium to large companies on every conversation they have with customers, and the fee varies depending on the country and the type of conversation. Lane says that about 95% of the business messaging spending is concentrated on standard SMS messaging. He expects this figure to drop down to around 75% in the next 4 years as more brands turn to WhatsApp. As a business messaging platform, WhatsApp hopes to offer a richer experience with features that are not available with standard SMS messaging.
The current market is dominated by regular SMS messaging, and the future of business messaging through WhatsApp is uncertain. This is especially true in the US, where WhatsApp has not yet gained widespread adoption.
Nick Lane also said that he expects WhatsApp to grow, with growth of business messaging on the app, to about $7 billion – $10 billion over the next 5-6 years. By 2027, Lane expects WhatsApp will have around 4.1 billion users, and expects more and more brands to invest in the platform. Lane also expects the business messaging market value to reach around $50 billion in 4-5 years time. Business messaging at WhatsApp has experienced substantial growth. Here are some comments from Meta Platforms Inc. ‘s (NASDAQ:META) Q2 2023 earnings call:
“Business messaging is another key piece of our monetization strategy. We recently announced that the 200 million users of our WhatsApp Business app will now be able to create click-to-WhatsApp ads for Facebook and Instagram without needing a Facebook account. This is a pretty big unlock, particularly in countries where WhatsApp is often the first step to bringing a business online.
Paid messaging is a bit earlier, but it’s also showing good adoption. The number of businesses using our paid messaging products has doubled year-over-year. While we’re on messaging, I’ll mention that we started rolling out channels on WhatsApp last month. It’s a simple, reliable and private way to receive important updates from people and organizations. And I’m quite excited for more people to try it as we bring the product to more countries through the rest of this year.”
On July 26, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) reported strong earnings for the fiscal second quarter of 2023. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.98, surpassing EPS estimates by $0.09. The company reported a revenue of $32 billion and outperformed revenue estimates by $969.07 million.
Now that we’ve discussed some of the recent trends in the global instant messaging app market, let’s take a look at the 20 countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Methodology
In this article, we have listed the 20 countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023. To rank the countries and collect data for our list, we consulted the latest reported data available, which is by Mobilesquared for the year 2021. Mobilesquared specializes in researching the business messaging market, and this database provides information on the amount of WhatsApp users in each country. We used data obtained for the latest year in their dataset, which is for the year 2021 and narrowed down our selection to rank the top 20 countries with most WhatsApp users. The countries with the highest number of WhatsApp users in 2021 are still likely to have the highest number of users in 2023. This is supported by the fact that WhatsApp’s popularity has continued to grow in recent years and the app has a large and loyal user base. We have listed the top 20 countries with most WhatsApp users below in ascending order.
20 Countries with Most WhatsApp Users in 2023
20. Colombia
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 28.91 Million
With around 28.91 million WhatsApp users, Colombia is the first country in our list of 20 countries with most WhatsApp users. WhatsApp ranks among the most popular instant messaging apps among mobile users in Colombia.
Some of the top companies operating in the instant messaging app market are Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
19. Thailand
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 29.37 Million
In most of the countries in our list of countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023, WhatsApp is the most popular messenger. While Thailand has around 29.37 million WhatsApp users, LINE Messenger is a more popular messaging app in the country.
18. Vietnam
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 29.76 Million
Vietnam has around 29.76 million WhatsApp users. However, WhatsApp is not as popular in Vietnam as it is in other countries and the preferred messaging app among Vietnamese users is a homegrown app called “Zalo”.
17. Egypt
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 35.28 Million
With around 35.28 million WhatsApp users, Egypt ranks at the number 17 spot in our list of 20 countries with most WhatsApp users. In recent years, the internet has become more widespread among the Egyptian population and social media users in the country jumped significantly.
16. Spain
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 35.31 Million
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in Spain. According to the latest reported data, Spain has around 35.31 million WhatsApp users.
15. Italy
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 37.31 Million
With 37.31 million WhatsApp users, Italy ranks among the top 15 countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023. WhatsApp ranks first in the list of the most frequently used messaging apps among Italian internet users.
14. Japan
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 38.59 Million
With around 38.59 million users, WhatsApp is a popular messaging app in Japan. However, LINE is another very popular messaging app in the country and despite what many people believe, LINE is a Japanese app and not a Chinese one.
13. United Kingdom
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 39.75 Million
WhatsApp is the biggest and most popular messaging channel in the United Kingdom. With 39.75 million WhatsApp users, the United Kingdom ranks at the number 13 spot in our list of 20 countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023.
12. Bangladesh
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 43.99 Million
Despite not being among the largest countries by size, Bangladesh ranks among the top 10 most populated countries in the world. According to the most recent data available, there are 43.99 million WhatsApp users in Bangladesh.
11. Turkey
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 47.63 Million
In the past, WhatsApp has been blocked in Turkey intermittently and BiP, an app by Turkish mobile network giant Turkcell, is a popular messaging app in the country. However, according to the recently reported data, Turkey still has around 47.63 million WhatsApp users.
10. Nigeria
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 50.96 Million
In Nigeria, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app. With around 50.96 million users, Nigeria ranks among the top 10 countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023.
9. Philippines
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 51.17 Million
In the Philippines, over the years, social media and social media apps have surged in popularity. WhatsApp ranks among the most popular messaging apps and according to recent data, the Philippines has around 51.17 million WhatsApp users.
8. Germany
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 51.94 Million
WhatsApp ranks among the most favorite messenger apps for German consumers. With 51.94 million WhatsApp users, Germany ranks high among the countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023.
7. Pakistan
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 52.32 Million
Pakistan ranks among some of the top most populated countries in the world and WhatsApp enjoys a strong base in the country. According to recently reported data, Pakistan has around 52.32 million WhatsApp users.
6. Russia
Number Of WhatsApp Users: 66.74 Million
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging application among consumers in Russia. With around 66.74 million WhatsApp users, Russia ranks high up at the number 6 spot in our list of 20 countries with most WhatsApp users in 2023.
Key industry players in the instant messaging app market include Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
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Disclosure: None. 20 Countries with Most WhatsApp Users in 2023 is published on Insider Monkey.