Number of WeChat Users (2014–2024)
Launched in 2011, WeChat ranks among the most popular messaging apps in the world. Even though it’s still not as widely used as WhatsApp, the number of people using WeChat is definitely on the rise, and it may be only a matter of time before it becomes the top messaging app worldwide.
How many people use WeChat?
|
Year |
Number of WeChat users worldwide |
Annual growth |
|
2014 |
500.0 million |
|
|
2015 |
697.0 million |
+39.4% |
|
2016 |
889.0 million |
+27.5% |
|
2017 |
989.0 million |
+11.2% |
|
2018 |
1,097.6 million |
+11.0% |
|
2019 |
1,164.8 million |
+6.1% |
|
2020 |
1,225.0 million |
+5.2% |
|
2021 |
1,268.2 million |
+3.5% |
|
2022 |
1,313.2 million |
+3.5% |
|
2023 |
1,343.0 million |
+2.3% |
|
2024 (as of Q1) |
1,359.0 million |
+3.0% (from Q1 2023) |
The latest data shows that as of Q1 2024, there were over 1.3 billion WeChat users worldwide. This marks a 3% annual increase and a marginal 1.2% rise from the previous quarter. This figure is determined by the number of active accounts worldwide.
The number of people using WeChat has been increasing year after year. At the end of 2014, barely four years after its launch at the beginning of 2011, it hit 500 million users. Just four years later, it had more than doubled its user count, growing to 1.1 billion users and surpassing the 1 billion milestone for the very first time.
From 2014 to 2023, the number of WeChat users grew at an average annual growth rate of 12.2%, with the fastest growth coming in the first few years. From 2015 to 2018, the average annual growth rate registered at 22.3%. This slowed to 4.1% for the period between 2019 and 2023.
Zooming in to look at quarterly data from Q1 2014 to Q1 2024, the only time the number of people using WeChat decreased was in Q2 2022, when it dipped by a marginal 2%.
WeChat users: 2024–2028 forecast
According to a separate set of data analyzing the number of WeChat users worldwide, this figure is anticipated to continue rising every year until at least 2027.
In 2028, the number of WeChat users is expected to fall for the first time in nearly a decade.
Number of WeChat users in China
|
Year |
Number of WeChat users in China |
|---|---|
|
2021 |
785.8 million |
|
2022 |
811 million |
|
2023 |
827.2 million |
|
2024 |
845.4 million |
|
2025 |
864.8 million |
Owned by Chinese company Tencent, WeChat was first launched in China. With other popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger blocked there, it’s no surprise that WeChat is, by far, the most popular chat app there.
So then, how many people use WeChat in China?
The latest statistics show that in 2024, there are 845.4 million WeChat users in China, which accounts for 60.1% of the total population. In other words, more than half of the population in China uses WeChat at least once a month.
WeChat usage in China is experiencing a similar growth trend, with the number of users expected to increase every year between 2021 and 2025. According to analysts’ forecast, by 2025 there will be 864.8 million people in China using WeChat, representing 61.4% of the population.