Number of monthly active WhatsApp users

worldwide from April 2013 to December 2017 (in

millions)
Number of monthly active users in
millions2002002502503003003503504004004304304654655005006006007007008008009
009001 0001 0001 2001 2001 3001 3001 5001 500Apr '13Jun '13Aug '13Oct '13Dec '13Jan
'14Feb '14Apr '14Aug '14Jan '15Apr '15Sep '15Feb '16Jan '17Jul '17Dec '17
02505007501 0001 2501 5001 750

Jan '17

• 1 200

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© Statista 2018
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DESCRIPTIONSOURCEMORE INFORMATION
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.