21 Instagram Stats to Scroll Through in 2023

Updated · Mar 06, 2023

Instagram is one of the most rapidly evolving social media platforms, and it continues to generate buzz among social media enthusiasts.

The platform is continually reaching more people and bringing them together to share their stories, passions, ideas—and, of course, their photos.

In this article, we’ll look at some amazing Instagram stats that will help you understand the platform better and build better marketing strategies.

After all, it's reasonable to assume that your target audience, as well as your competitors, are part of the millions of people using Instagram.

Astonishing Instagram Statistics to Keep In Mind in 2022 (Editor’s Choice)

  • Instagram has over one billion users worldwide.
  • 47% of millennials use Instagram as a messaging app.
  • Every day, 200 million people view at least one business profile on Instagram.
  • 71% of businesses in the US say they use Instagram for marketing.
  • 81% of individuals explore products and services on Instagram.
  • More than 43% of users enjoy posts about travel, music, food, and drink.
  • 54% of millennials make a purchase after viewing a product on Instagram.

Instagram Usage: Actively Sharing Content

Instagram has been around for just eleven years, and it has already shaped the way people and organizations worldwide tell stories, connect, and interact with others.

But how many people are we talking about, exactly?

We at Hosting Tribunal break it down for you.

1. Instagram was the fourth most downloaded app in 2020.

(Source: Omnicore)

Instagram statistics say people around the world downloaded the app a total of 500 million times in 2020. The platform falls behind TikTok (850 million), WhatsApp (600 million), and Facebook (540 million).

In the US, only TikTok and Zoom were ahead, leaving Instagram as the third most downloaded app in 2020.

2. More than one billion people are on Instagram.

(Source: Oberlo)

Instagram's user base increased by 22.9% in 2020, passing the one-billion-user milestone.

As of 2021, the platform has 1.074 billion monthly active users. This means that you can connect with roughly 13.7% of the world’s population through Instagram.

3. 500 million people check Instagram every day.

(Source: Backlinko)

In other words, 11% of the world’s total internet users access the platform at least once a day.

Instagram ranks just below Facebook in terms of daily active users, though the latter boasts no less than 1.9 million as of July 2021.

4. Half a billion people share at least one Instagram story per day.

(Source: Statista)

Looking at Instagram user stats, the platform reached half a billion stories users back in 2019. The platform tripled the number of stories users from 2017 to 2019.

Combined with the previous stat, this means that virtually all daily active users post at least one story while they’re using the platform.

5. Users upload more than 100 million photos and videos to Instagram every day.

(Source: 99 Firms)

This seems quite impressive until you compare it to the 95,840,000 photos that people upload to Facebook every day.

As for videos, live streaming has been on an upwards trend for a couple of years now. Now we have Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Instagram’s IGTV and the possibility of using streaming software to broadcast live simultaneously across them all—except for Instagram, which doesn’t allow people to stream content that wasn’t recorded using the app.

They’re probably missing out, though. Facebook Live stats say live broadcasts get many more comments, interactions, and triple the watch time than traditional videos.

6. Instagram users spend an average of 30 minutes per day on the platform.

(Source: eMarketer)

Because of the pandemic and lockdown, people are spending more of their free time streaming content and using social media.

So far, Netflix has added 16 million people to its user base, YouTube has seen a 700% increase of “at home” videos, and Instagram stats show that adults are spending 13.8% more time on the platform than they used to in 2019.

For comparison, users spend around 34 minutes on Facebook and 29.5 minutes on Snapchat every day.

7. Instagram accounts for only 3.28% of all social media visits in the US.

(Source: Statista)

If we kept track of all the times that people in the US checked a social media platform, 72% of those visits would lead us to Facebook; 12.4%, to Pinterest; and 9.15%, to Twitter.

Instagram takes fourth place on the list.

Instagram Demographics: Everyone Is Using It

Whether it’s breakfast, business, or vacation, everything is instagrammable.

But who are the people posting a picture, sharing a story, and talking about it on IGTV?

Let’s take a quick look at users’ age, gender, nationality, and much more!

8. Amazon and Instagram share the spot for the 6th most visited website in the world.

(Source: Statista)

Instagram is the second most visited social media website in the world after Facebook. Looking at the latest Instagram traffic stats, the social media platform received 4.4 billion total monthly visits.

Google comes in the first position with 86.9 billion monthly visits, followed by YouTube (22.8 billion) and Facebook (20 billion).

9. Nearly 70% of the platform’s users are no older than 34.

(Source: Statista)

Like TikTok and Facebook, Instagram is more popular among Gen Z and millennials.

Looking at the percentage of Instagram users by age, 29.6% are between the ages of 18 and 24, 32.1% are in the 25-34 age group, and just 6% are older than 55.

10. More than half of Instagram’s global audience is female.

(Source: Statista)

There are more women on Instagram than men, though the difference is certainly not as dramatic as it is on Pinterest—it’s just 51.4% vs 48.6%.

That said, if we segregate Instagram users by gender, male users surpass females in both of Instagram’s largest age groups by 2.2%.

11. Instagram reached 170 million users in the United States.

(Source: Statista)

India, however, manages to have more Instagram signees than the US, taking the first spot on the ranking with its 180 million users.

Although the number of Instagram users went up to 170 million in 2021, Facebook is still the most popular social media in the US.

12. Approximately half of US adults used Instagram during the pandemic.

(Source: Statista)

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Instagram was the second most popular platform for adults in the US to keep in touch with their friends, family, and the rest of the outside world.

Looking at the latest Instagram statistics, about 49.5% of adults used the photo-sharing social media platform in 2020.

For comparison, 78.1% used Facebook, whereas a surprising 7.7% avoided social media completely.

13. More than 30% of US Instagram accounts belong to people in the 25-34 age group.

(Source: Statista)

The popularity of Instagram among US millennials is off the charts. Instagram age stats show that 31.4% of users in the US are between the ages of 25 and 34.

With a 25.7% share, the 18- to 24-year-olds are the second-largest user group.

14. 47% of millennials in the US text their followers on Instagram.

(Source: Neal Schaffer)

Instagram and Snapchat are tied for the position as the second most popular messaging app in the US, while Twitter comes in third with 31% of millennials using it to communicate privately with their followers.

What about number one?

You guessed it—Facebook Messenger gets 50%.

15. A quarter of teenagers in the US prefer Instagram to other social media platforms.

(Source: Wallaroo Media)

Instagram stats show the number is 10% lower than what they claimed in the spring of 2019, possibly because TikTok captured the attention of some of Instagram’s audience.

Back in November 2018, TikTok had 680 million monthly users, but that number has now surpassed the one-billion mark.

Instagram gives you a space to express yourself, your ideas, business opportunities, products, and services—it’s a marketer's dream come true.

Here we’ll give you the business-related numbers you need to know.

16. Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion.

(Source: Investopedia)

Instagram is probably Facebook’s best purchase. It happened back in 2012 when Instagram had just 13 employees and no income.

But fast forward six years later and Instagram’s net worth had skyrocketed to $100 billion.

Instagram is now one of Facebook’s biggest revenue generators, representing 30% of its overall advertising revenue.

17. Instagram had 25 million business accounts in 2017.

(Source: Instagram)

According to the latest Instagram account statistics, 200 million users visit a business page on Instagram every day, though not necessarily one they follow—in fact, about two-thirds of profile visits come from non-followers.

That said, about 80% of users follow at least one business.

(Source: Social Blade)

Fun Instagram facts: Nike is the most popular retail brand on Instagram with 172 million followers. Next up is Victoria’s Secret with 70 million followers.

National Geographic, however, is the top organization on the list with an astounding 183 million followers.

19. Every month, two million accounts pay Instagram for advertising.

(Source: Instagram)

Instagram marketing stats prove that the platform is a great place to advertise your products and services if your target audiences are Gen Z and millennials.

The Facebook-owned company had 500,000 advertisers back in September 2016 and, just one year later, that number went up to two million.

20. Instagram generated more than $13 billion from ads in 2020.

(Source: Statista)

Advertisement is the main revenue source for Instagram, bringing in billions of dollars each year. As Instagram’s popularity among businesses continues to grow, companies spend more time and budget on the platform.

Instagram’s ad revenue doubled from $6.18 billion in 2018 to an estimated $13.86 billion in 2020 in the US alone.

Forecasts say that Instagram will generate $18.16 billion in annual ad sales in 2021, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the number ends up being higher.

21. Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed person on Instagram.

(Source: Social Blade)

Instagram is a great place for celebrities and athletes to connect with their fans. In fact, a post by Cristiano Ronaldo—who has 339 million followers—is valued at $985,000.

Instagram follower stats say that Dwayne Johnson (268 million), Ariana Grande (265 million), and Kylie Jenner (264 million) are currently the most popular celebrities on the platform after Cristiano.

Wrap Up

Some people speculate that video-centric platforms, like TikTok and YouTube, will continue to rise while other social media platforms will slowly be left behind.

And perhaps there’s some truth to it, but so far Instagram has managed to adapt and evolve to satisfy users’ needs seamlessly. And after viewing all of these Instagram stats, it's difficult to dispute its continued marketing potential.

Whatever the future may hold, for now, Instagram is still a great space to express yourself, communicate with your loved ones, meet new people, get ideas for your next trip, and shop for a new item or two.

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Nick Galov
Nick Galov

Unaware that life beyond the internet exists, Nick is poking servers and control panels, playing with WordPress add-ons, and helping people get the hosting that suits them.