162 WhatsApp Statistics for 2026

How many people use WhatsApp?

Meta does not publish an exact count of WhatsApp users. Its figures are rounded statements by its chief executive on earnings calls and posts on WhatsApp's own blog, each with a date. They are company claims, not audited metrics.

View data table

WhatsApp daily user milestones worldwide as announced by WhatsApp and Meta, in millions. Each comes from a WhatsApp blog post or a Meta newsroom post; the link is to the latest one. These are company announcements, not audited counts.

Period	Value
Feb 2014	320m+
Jul 2017	1bn
Apr 2025	2bn+

• In the same April 2025 remarks, Mark Zuckerberg said WhatsApp had "more than 100 million people in the US and growing quickly there". (Meta (Q1 2025 earnings call), Apr 2025)
• He added that WhatsApp is "clearly not the primary messaging app in the United States at this point, iMessage is." (Meta (Q1 2025 earnings call), Apr 2025)
• WhatsApp said in July 2024: "As of this month, WhatsApp now has 100 million users in the United States." (WhatsApp (blog, Jul 2024), Jul 2024)
• On Meta's July 2024 earnings call Zuckerberg said WhatsApp "now serves more than 100 million monthly actives in the US". (Meta (Q2 2024 earnings call), Jul 2024)
• In April 2024 he said that on WhatsApp "the number of daily actives and message sends in the US keeps gaining momentum". (Meta (Q1 2024 earnings call), Apr 2024)
• In October 2024 he said: "For WhatsApp, the US remains one of our fastest growing countries." (Meta (Q3 2024 earnings call), Oct 2024)
• In October 2026 he said "WhatsApp is hitting all-time highs in messaging". He gave no user figure. (Meta (Q3 2026 earnings call), Oct 2026)
• Meta says that because of encryption it has "fewer data signals from WhatsApp user accounts" and matches them with accounts on its other apps mainly by phone numbers and device information. (Meta (Q3 2026 earnings slides), Oct 2026)
• It also says it has "less visibility into WhatsApp user activity due to encryption" when it estimates accounts that break its rules. (Meta (Q3 2026 earnings slides), Oct 2026)

All user figures are Meta's or WhatsApp's own rounded statements, worldwide unless the US is named, and are not independently audited. Meta does not report WhatsApp users on their own in its results. Meta's US statements count its own users and are not compared with Pew's survey shares further down the page.

How fast has WhatsApp grown?

WhatsApp went from a few hundred million monthly users in 2013 to 1 billion in early 2016, on its own announcements, and kept growing after Facebook bought it in 2014. Daily use grew too: by mid-2017 a billion people used it every day.

View data table

WhatsApp user milestones worldwide as announced by WhatsApp and Meta, December 2013 to April 2025, in millions. Each comes from a WhatsApp blog post or a Meta earnings call; the link is to the latest one. The 2018 and 2020 posts say users without saying monthly. These are company announcements, not audited counts.

Period	Value
Dec 2013	400m
Feb 2014	450m+
Apr 2014	500m
Feb 2016	1bn
Jan 2018	1.3bn
Feb 2020	2bn+
Apr 2025	3bn+

• WhatsApp had 400 million monthly active users in December 2013, "with 100 million active users added in the last four months alone". (WhatsApp (blog, Dec 2013), Dec 2013)
• At the time it said: "WhatsApp has just 50 employees, and most of us are engineers." (WhatsApp (blog, Dec 2013), Dec 2013)
• When Facebook agreed to buy it in February 2014, WhatsApp said it had over 450 million monthly active users and over 320 million daily active users worldwide. (WhatsApp (blog, Feb 2014), Feb 2014)
• By April 2014 "half a billion people around the world" were regular, active WhatsApp users. (WhatsApp (blog, Apr 2014), Apr 2014)
• WhatsApp reached 1 billion users in February 2016, "nearly one in seven people on Earth" using it each month. (WhatsApp (blog, Feb 2016), Feb 2016)
• In July 2017 WhatsApp said 1 billion people used it every day, a year after it announced 1 billion monthly users. (WhatsApp (blog, Jul 2017), Jul 2017)
• It had 1.3 billion users when it launched the WhatsApp Business app in January 2018. (WhatsApp (blog, Jan 2018), Jan 2018)
• In February 2020 WhatsApp said it "supports more than two billion users around the world". The post did not say whether these were monthly users. (WhatsApp (blog, Feb 2020), Feb 2020)

All figures are WhatsApp's or Meta's own announcements, worldwide and rounded. WhatsApp has never published a regular user series, so milestones are spaced unevenly and the basis (monthly, daily or not stated) is given with each one.

What do people do on WhatsApp?

Messaging is still the core of WhatsApp, and its daily volume is many times what it was in 2011. Calls, Status posts, Channels, Communities and avatars have been added since, and Meta gives figures for some of them.

• WhatsApp first passed 1 billion messages sent in a single day in October 2011. (WhatsApp (blog, Oct 2011), Oct 2011)
• It worked that out as 694,444 messages a minute, or 11,574 a second, on average. (WhatsApp (blog, Oct 2011), Oct 2011)
• In April 2014 users were sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos every day, WhatsApp said. (WhatsApp (blog, Apr 2014), Apr 2014)
• Alongside its messages, WhatsApp supports 2 billion calls on a regular day, it said in December 2025. (WhatsApp (blog, Dec 2025), Dec 2025)
• Meta's finance chief said in April 2025 that "there are tens of billions of views of Status posts on WhatsApp each day". (Meta (Q1 2025 earnings call), Apr 2025)
• More than 100 million people created avatars on WhatsApp within a quarter of their launch, and about one in five of them used the avatar as their profile photo, Meta said in February 2023. (Meta (Q4 2022 earnings call), Feb 2023)
• WhatsApp built Communities with over 50 organisations in 15 countries before starting its global rollout in November 2022. (WhatsApp (blog, Nov 2022), Nov 2022)
• The same launch brought 32-person video calls and groups of up to 1,024 users. (WhatsApp (blog, Nov 2022), Nov 2022)

All figures are WhatsApp's or Meta's own, worldwide, and rounded or approximate where the company gave them that way. Message and call volumes are daily totals as the company stated them. The 2011 per-second figure is an average WhatsApp worked out from one day, unlike the 2026 record peak at the top of the page.

How popular is WhatsApp around the world?

WhatsApp is among the four platforms internet users most often say they used in the past month in GWI's worldwide survey, and it tops Similarweb's ranking of mobile apps by monthly users. In the Reuters Institute's country surveys, a large majority of online adults in most markets use it every week.

1. 1 Singapore 91%
2. 2 Italy 89%
3. 3 Spain 89%
4. 4 Peru 87%
5. 5 Germany 83%
6. 6 Mexico 83%
7. 7 United Kingdom 82%
8. 8 Brazil 82%
9. 9 Indonesia 82%
10. 10 France 64%
11. 11 Poland 51%
12. 12 Australia 46%

• 54.9% of internet users aged 16 and over say they used WhatsApp in the past month, fourth behind Facebook (58.1%), Instagram (56.6%) and YouTube (56.2%), in GWI's survey. (Kepios (Digital 2027, GWI survey), Oct 2026)
• 30.2% of WhatsApp's own adult users name it their favourite platform, on the same survey. (Kepios (Digital 2027, GWI survey), Oct 2026)
• WhatsApp ranked first in Similarweb's index of monthly active users across Android and iOS apps worldwide in August 2026, as compiled by Kepios. (Kepios (Digital 2027, Similarweb app data), Oct 2026)
• Total time spent in WhatsApp's app equalled 96.3% of the total for YouTube on the same app data. (Kepios (Digital 2027, Similarweb app data), Oct 2026)
• WhatsApp's mobile app users spent just over an hour a day in it on average in August 2026, against 1 hour 55 minutes for TikTok, 1 hour 40 minutes for Instagram, 1 hour 28 minutes for YouTube and 59 minutes for Facebook. (Kepios (Digital 2027, Similarweb app data), Oct 2026)
• In Italy and Spain 89% of online adults used WhatsApp for any purpose each week in 2026, and in Finland and the Netherlands 83%. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Germany 83% of online adults used WhatsApp each week and in the UK 82%, against 44% and 63% for Facebook. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• Weekly use was 81% in Ireland, 80% in Austria and Switzerland, 79% in Portugal and 77% in Croatia. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• It was lower in Romania (75%), Belgium (73%), the Czech Republic (70%), France (64%), Slovakia (54%) and Poland (51%). (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Latin America weekly use was 87% in Peru, 83% in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, and 82% in Colombia and Brazil. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Asia it was 82% in Indonesia and Malaysia and 81% in Hong Kong. In India's online sample, which is younger and English-speaking and not the national population, it was 78%. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Nigeria and South Africa 89% of the online sample used WhatsApp each week and in Kenya 88%. These samples are younger English speakers, not the national population, and Kenya and Nigeria cover ages 18 to 50 only. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Morocco and Turkey 75% used WhatsApp each week, and in Australia 46%. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)

Three producers, three measures, never compared. GWI's shares are survey answers from internet users aged 16 and over, compiled by Kepios. Similarweb's figures are measured app data for Android and iOS apps only, given as an index or per active user, and are not user counts. The Reuters Institute surveys online adults in each market using YouGov online panels; it asked its platform questions again in March 2026, so changes on 2025 are not shown. Samples in India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are younger English speakers, not the national population. None is compared with Meta's own user statements.

How many Americans use WhatsApp?

About a third of US adults say they use WhatsApp, and the share has risen since 2021. Its US users look different from most platforms': use peaks among adults aged 30-49, not the youngest, and it is far higher among Hispanic and Asian adults than among White adults.

View data table

Share of all US adults who say they ever use WhatsApp, by survey date, from Pew's trend table. Pew has no WhatsApp figures before 2018 and changed its survey mode after 2021.

Period	Value
Jan 2018	22%
Feb 2019	20%
Feb 2021	23%
Sep 2023	29%
Jun 2024	30%
Jun 2025	32%
Jun 2026	33%

• 33% of US adults say they ever use WhatsApp in 2026, up from 22% in January 2018, the first year Pew has for WhatsApp. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• 39% of US adults aged 30-49 use WhatsApp, against 37% of 18-29s, 36% of 50-64s and 20% of those 65 and over. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• 34% of US men and 33% of women use WhatsApp, almost no gender gap. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• 51% of Asian US adults use WhatsApp and 40% of Black adults; Pew's estimates for Asian adults cover English speakers only. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• 40% of US adults with household incomes of $100,000 or more use WhatsApp, against 32% at $70,000-$99,999, 33% at $30,000-$69,999 and 25% below $30,000. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• 43% of US college graduates use WhatsApp, against 30% of those with some college and 26% of those with a high school education or less. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• 39% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents use WhatsApp, against 26% of Republicans and Republican leaners. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• 44% of urban US adults use WhatsApp, against 33% of suburban and 22% of rural adults. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• Pew's 2026 figures come from a survey of US adults run from 30 January to 18 June 2026. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
• In its 2025 report Pew put WhatsApp use at 32% of all US adults, "up from 23% in 2021", from a survey of 5,022 adults from 5 February to 18 June 2025. (Pew Research Center (Americans' Social Media Use 2025), Nov 2025)

Pew's figures are shares of all US adults aged 18 and over who say they ever use WhatsApp. Pew ran the survey by phone up to 2021 and by web and mail, later also phone, from 2023, so changes across those years are not exactly like for like. Meta's statements about its US users count accounts, not survey answers, and are not compared with Pew's shares.

Do US teenagers use WhatsApp?

Yes, and a rising share since 2022, on Pew's surveys of US teens. WhatsApp is still used by fewer teens than Facebook.

View data table

Share of US teens aged 13-17 who say they use WhatsApp, by survey year, from Pew's topline.

Period	Value
2022	17%
2023	21%
2024	23%
2025	24%

• WhatsApp use among US teens rose from 17% in April-May 2022 to 21% in autumn 2023 and 23% in autumn 2024. (Pew Research Center (Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025), Dec 2025)
• Pew says: "WhatsApp is one platform that stands out for its growth in recent years." (Pew Research Center (Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025), Dec 2025)
• Among other platforms, 31% of US teens use Facebook, 17% Reddit and 16% X. (Pew Research Center (Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025), Dec 2025)
• Pew surveyed US teens aged 13 to 17 from 25 September to 9 October 2025. (Pew Research Center (Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025), Dec 2025)

Pew's teen figures are shares of all US teens aged 13 to 17, with non-users counted as not using. They come from a separate survey and are not compared with adult figures or with Meta's statements.

How popular is WhatsApp in Sweden and Australia?

Half of Swedish internet users now use WhatsApp, and its use has risen every year since 2022, though Facebook Messenger is still bigger there. In Australia, WhatsApp users are using it more often, above all in the cities.

View data table

Share of Swedish internet users aged 8 and over who used WhatsApp in the past 12 months, 2022-2026. Fieldwork for 2026 was in January 2026.

Period	Value
2022	36%
2023	40%
2024	46%
2025	49%
2026	51%

• 19% of Swedish internet users aged 8 and over use WhatsApp daily and 31% at least weekly, up from 14% and 23% in 2022. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
• Facebook Messenger is used by 66% of Swedish internet users aged 8 and over, against 51% for WhatsApp. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
• 72% of Swedes born in the 1980s use WhatsApp, more than any other age group, against 55% of those born in the 1990s and 32% of those born before 1950. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
• 44% of Swedes born in the 2010s use WhatsApp, against 9% for Facebook Messenger. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
• 31% of Swedes born in the 1980s use WhatsApp daily, against 12% of those born in the 2000s and 10% of those born before 1950. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
• 53% of Swedish women and 50% of men use WhatsApp, up from 38% and 34% in 2022. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
• WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app among Swedish children and young people aged 8 to 19: 43% use it, up from 29% in 2022, with 50% of girls against 36% of boys. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
• 28% of Australian adults who use WhatsApp used it multiple times a day in the six months to June 2025, up from 24% in 2024. (ACMA (How we communicate), Feb 2026)
• Among Australian WhatsApp users, 42% of those aged 35-44 used it multiple times a day, up from 35%, as did 31% in metropolitan areas against 17% in regional areas. (ACMA (How we communicate), Feb 2026)
• 43% of Australian adults in metropolitan areas used WhatsApp to send messages in the past seven days, against 25% in regional areas. (ACMA (How we communicate), Feb 2026)
• 23% of Australian adults used WhatsApp for video or voice calls in the past seven days, up from 21%, behind Facebook Messenger (26%) and ahead of FaceTime (14%). (ACMA (How we communicate), Feb 2026)
• Among Australians aged 18-24, 24% used WhatsApp for calls, up from 16%. (ACMA (How we communicate), Feb 2026)

Internetstiftelsen surveys Swedish internet users aged 8 and over; past-12-month, weekly and daily use are separate measures, and the children's figures cover ages 8 to 19. ACMA surveys Australian adults; its multiple-times-a-day figures are shares of WhatsApp users, while its messaging and calling figures are shares of all adults. The two countries' figures are not compared with each other or with Meta's user statements.

How many people get news on WhatsApp?

WhatsApp is the top network for news in several markets in Europe and Asia in the Reuters Institute's 2026 survey, including Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. In the US it is a minor news source.

1. 1 Indonesia 56%
2. 2 Malaysia 50%
3. 3 Colombia 46%
4. 4 Switzerland 42%
5. 5 Peru 41%
6. 6 Singapore 40%
7. 7 Austria 35%
8. 8 Mexico 35%
9. 9 France 31%
10. 10 Italy 29%
11. 11 Germany 23%
12. 12 Australia 20%
13. 13 United Kingdom 12%

• Across a basket of 12 markets tracked since 2014, the Reuters Institute says "WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have enjoyed sustained growth since 2014" as sources of news. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• 42% of online adults in Switzerland and 35% in Austria used WhatsApp for news in the past week, more than any other network in either country. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Germany WhatsApp led for news at 23%, just ahead of YouTube on 22%. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Indonesia 56% used WhatsApp for news each week, in Malaysia 50% and in Singapore 40%, putting it first in all three. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Nigeria's online sample 68% used WhatsApp for news each week, level with Facebook. The sample is younger English speakers aged 18 to 50, not the national population. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In South Africa's sample, also younger English speakers, 53% used WhatsApp for news, second to Facebook on 66%. In Kenya's, younger English speakers aged 18 to 50, 62% did, behind YouTube (66%) and Facebook (63%). (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In India's sample of younger English speakers, not the national population, 56% used WhatsApp for news, second to YouTube on 58%. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• WhatsApp was second for news in Colombia (46%, behind Facebook on 51%), Brazil (46%, behind Instagram on 49%) and Mexico (35%, behind Facebook on 57%). (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Europe it was second for news, behind Facebook, in France (31%), Portugal (30%), Ireland (27%), Belgium (27%) and the Netherlands (24%). (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• It was used for news each week by 41% in Peru, 35% in Morocco, 34% in Argentina, 33% in Chile and 30% in Hong Kong. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Italy, Spain and Turkey 29% used WhatsApp for news each week, and in Romania 28%. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• News use was lower in the Czech Republic (25%), Croatia and Poland (21% each), Slovakia (18%) and Finland (14%). (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• In Australia 20% used WhatsApp for news, and in the UK 12%, where Facebook (21%) and YouTube (16%) led. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
• 5% of US adults say they regularly get news on WhatsApp, against 40% for Facebook and 34% for YouTube. (Pew Research Center (news fact sheet), Oct 2026)

The Reuters Institute asks online adults whether they used a platform for news in the past week; Pew asks US adults whether they regularly get news there. The two are different measures and are not compared. Reuters asked its platform questions again in March 2026 and advises caution with year-on-year changes, so none is shown. Samples in India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are younger English speakers, not the national population.

How many people use WhatsApp Channels in the EU?

WhatsApp reports EU users only for Channels, its one-way broadcast feature, not for messaging, and that count has risen in every period since Channels launched in 2023. The European Commission designated WhatsApp a very large online platform in January 2026 because Channels passed the threshold.

View data table

WhatsApp Channels average monthly active recipients in the EU by reporting period, in millions. Channels only, not WhatsApp messaging. Each period comes from the notice for that period; the link is to the page that lists them. The first period runs from launch in September 2023.

Period	Value
Sep-Dec 2023	31m
H1 2024	39.7m
H2 2024	46.8m
H1 2025	51.7m
H2 2025	58.3m
H1 2026	62.5m

• WhatsApp reported about 31 million average monthly active recipients of WhatsApp Channels in the EU from launch on 13 September 2023 to 31 December 2023. This is Channels only, not WhatsApp messaging. (WhatsApp (DSA Channels user notice, 2023), 2023)
• For January to June 2024 it reported about 39.7 million EU recipients of Channels, again for Channels alone. (WhatsApp (DSA Channels user notice, H1 2024), Aug 2024)
• Its Channels-only EU figures were about 46.8 million for July to December 2024, 51.7 million for January to June 2025 and 58.3 million for July to December 2025. None counts messaging users. (WhatsApp (DSA Channels user notices, Feb 2025 to Feb 2026), Feb 2026)
• The European Commission designated WhatsApp a Very Large Online Platform under the DSA on 26 January 2026 because "its 'Channels' feature reaches the designation threshold of at least 45 million users in the EU". The designation rests on Channels, not messaging. (European Commission (WhatsApp VLOP designation), Jan 2026)
• Meta was given four months, "by mid-May 2026", to meet the extra DSA obligations for WhatsApp Channels. (European Commission (WhatsApp VLOP designation), Jan 2026)
• WhatsApp counts as a Channels recipient "an active user of the WhatsApp mobile app who opened a Channel in the last 30 days as of the date of measurement". People who only message are not counted. (WhatsApp (DSA Channels user notice, 2023), 2023)

These are WhatsApp's own EU-27 figures for the Channels feature only, under the Digital Services Act. They count people who opened a Channel, not people who use WhatsApp to message or call, and are not compared with Meta's worldwide user statements or with Facebook and Instagram EU counts. The first period is shorter than the later six-month periods.

Which EU countries use WhatsApp Channels most?

Germany has by far the most WhatsApp Channels users in the EU, followed by Italy and Spain. Counts are far lower in France and smallest in Lithuania, Slovenia and Estonia. These are Channels users only, not WhatsApp messaging users.

1. 1 Germany 19,664,202
2. 2 Italy 13,047,114
3. 3 Spain 12,659,891
4. 4 France 4,843,942
5. 5 Netherlands 2,262,322
6. 6 Romania 1,491,464
7. 7 Austria 1,488,500
8. 8 Poland 1,396,360
9. 9 Portugal 1,332,843
10. 10 Czechia 759,757
11. 11 Belgium 728,175
12. 12 Finland 633,095

• WhatsApp Channels had 62,592,270 average monthly active recipients in the EU from 26 January to 30 June 2026, in WhatsApp's report as a very large online platform. Channels only, not messaging. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• Germany had 19,664,202 Channels recipients, Italy 13,047,114 and Spain 12,659,891. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• France had 4,843,942 Channels recipients and the Netherlands 2,262,322. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• Romania had 1,491,464 Channels recipients, Austria 1,488,500, Poland 1,396,360 and Portugal 1,332,843. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• Czechia had 759,757 Channels recipients, Belgium 728,175, Finland 633,095, Sweden 411,054 and Ireland 397,893. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• The smallest Channels counts were in Hungary (39,976), Estonia (32,565), Slovenia (25,635) and Lithuania (22,253). (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)

Country figures are WhatsApp's own estimates for the Channels feature only, under the Digital Services Act, for 26 January to 30 June 2026, the period after the designation. They are not counts of people using WhatsApp to message. The EU total differs slightly from the notice for January to June 2026 because the periods differ.

How much content does WhatsApp remove from Channels in the EU?

WhatsApp takes hundreds of thousands of moderation measures on Channels in the EU every six months, mostly on its own initiative and often by automated means. Outside notices of illegal content are rare. These figures cover Channels only, not WhatsApp messaging.

• Solely automated 578,465
• Not solely automated 410,289

• From January to June 2026 WhatsApp took 886,271 measures on its own initiative against illegal content on Channels in the EU, 535,184 of them after detection by solely automated means. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• It took a further 102,483 own-initiative measures on Channels for breaches of its terms of service. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• 578,465 of its Channels measures in the EU were taken solely by automated means and 410,289 were not. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• WhatsApp put the precision of its automated means on Channels at 0.98, which it defines as "the percentage of all automated restrictions that weren't later restored". (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• It reported 494 moderators with sufficient linguistic expertise for EU Channels content. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• Channels received 286 notices of illegal content in the EU, 4 of them from trusted flaggers. (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
• Users filed 28,996 complaints about Channels decisions with WhatsApp's internal complaints system, and the report lists 637 restrictions "newly imposed as a result of an internal complaint". (WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)

All figures are WhatsApp's own, from its DSA report for the EU, and cover the Channels feature only for January to June 2026; they do not cover WhatsApp messaging. Measures count actions, not unique pieces of content or accounts. Own-initiative measures against illegal content and for terms-of-service breaches are separate counts.

How many businesses use WhatsApp?

WhatsApp has built a large business side since its Business app launched in 2018, and Meta now sells messaging to companies along with AI agents that answer customers. Meta gives counts for some years and only growth rates for others, so the figures do not form one series.

• When it launched the Business app in January 2018, WhatsApp said "over 80% of small businesses in India and Brazil" say WhatsApp helps them communicate with customers and grow. It did not say how this was measured. (WhatsApp (blog, Jan 2018), Jan 2018)
• A year after launch, more than 5 million businesses were using the WhatsApp Business app. (WhatsApp (blog, Jan 2019), Jan 2019)
• By July 2020 WhatsApp supported more than 50 million Business app users, and more than 40 million people viewed a business catalogue on WhatsApp each month. (Meta (newsroom, Jul 2020), Jul 2020)
• "More than 175 million people every day message a WhatsApp Business account," WhatsApp said in October 2020. (WhatsApp (blog, Oct 2020), Oct 2020)
• In April 2023 Zuckerberg said the number of businesses using paid messaging on WhatsApp had grown 40% quarter on quarter. (Meta (Q1 2023 earnings call), Apr 2023)
• In July 2023 Meta said the number of businesses using its paid messaging products had doubled year on year. (Meta (Q2 2023 earnings call), Jul 2023)
• Meta launched WhatsApp Flows globally in October 2023, letting businesses offer tasks such as choosing a flight seat or booking an appointment in a chat, and said paid messaging was growing, "driven by particularly strong growth from marketing messages". (Meta (Q4 2023 earnings call), Feb 2024)
• Meta says there are "more than one billion active threads with businesses on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram every day". This covers three apps, not WhatsApp alone. (Meta (newsroom, Jun 2026), Jun 2026)
• More than 1 million businesses were using Meta Business Agents on WhatsApp and Messenger every week to talk to customers or complete sales, Zuckerberg said in July 2026. (Meta (Q2 2026 earnings call), Jul 2026)
• Meta said Brazilian car rental firm Movida saw a 44% rise in daily bookings through WhatsApp in one month against a year earlier, after adding an AI agent, with 85% of conversations resolved without human help. This is one company's case, chosen by Meta. (Meta (Q2 2026 earnings call), Jul 2026)

All figures are Meta's or WhatsApp's own claims, worldwide unless a country is named. Business app users, businesses, people messaging businesses and business threads are different measures and are not added together or charted. WhatsApp did not say how the small business figure was measured.

Does WhatsApp show ads?

Yes. Meta began showing ads in WhatsApp's Updates tab, in Status and Channels, in mid-2025, and has kept the number low. Ads on Meta's apps that open a WhatsApp chat have been growing for longer.

• Meta said in July 2025 it was "rolling out ads in Status and Channels, along with Channel Subscriptions in the Updates tab". (Meta (Q2 2025 earnings call), Jul 2025)
• Its finance chief said Status ads would "earn a lower average price than Facebook or Instagram ads for the foreseeable future", partly because of "WhatsApp's skew toward lower monetizing markets". (Meta (Q2 2025 earnings call), Jul 2025)
• Meta said it did "not expect ads in Status to be a meaningful contributor to total impressions or revenue growth for the next few years". This is a company outlook, not a result. (Meta (Q2 2025 earnings call), Jul 2025)
• In October 2025 Meta said it expected to complete the rollout of Status ads "next year". (Meta (Q3 2025 earnings call), Oct 2025)
• In January 2026 it said it would complete the rollout "throughout the year, with the level of ads remaining low in the near-term". (Meta (Q4 2025 earnings call), Jan 2026)
• By April 2026 "hundreds of millions of people" were viewing Status ads daily, Meta said. (Meta (Q1 2026 earnings call), Apr 2026)
• Click-to-message ads, which open a chat in WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram, were at "a $10 billion run rate", Zuckerberg said in February 2023. They sit in advertising revenue and cover all three apps. (Meta (Q4 2022 earnings call), Feb 2023)
• Over half of click-to-message advertisers used only click-to-message ads on Meta's platforms, Meta said at the time. (Meta (Q4 2022 earnings call), Feb 2023)
• "Daily Click-to-WhatsApp ads revenue continues to grow very quickly at over 80% year-over-year," Meta said in July 2023. (Meta (Q2 2023 earnings call), Jul 2023)
• Revenue from click-to-WhatsApp ads grew 60% year on year in the third quarter of 2025, Meta said. (Meta (Q3 2025 earnings call), Oct 2025)
• In the US, click-to-message ad revenue grew more than 40% year on year in the second quarter of 2025. (Meta (Q2 2025 earnings call), Jul 2025)
• In the fourth quarter of 2025 US click-to-message ad revenue grew more than 50% year on year, Meta said. (Meta (Q4 2025 earnings call), Jan 2026)

All figures are Meta's own, worldwide unless the US is named, and most are growth rates without a base. Click-to-message figures cover ads that open chats in WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram and sit in Meta's advertising revenue; click-to-WhatsApp figures cover WhatsApp only. Outlook statements are Meta's expectations at the date given.

How much money does Meta make from WhatsApp?

Meta does not report WhatsApp revenue. The nearest line in its results is Family of Apps other revenue, which includes WhatsApp paid messaging and Meta Verified subscriptions, and it has grown fast since 2023.

View data table

Meta Family of Apps other revenue worldwide by year, 2022-2025, in millions of US dollars. It includes WhatsApp paid messaging and Meta Verified subscriptions, so it is not WhatsApp revenue. Each year comes from the release for that year; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2022	$808m
2023	$1,058m
2024	$1,722m
2025	$2,584m

• Meta's 2025 annual report says other revenue "consists of revenue from paid messaging from WhatsApp, Meta Verified subscriptions" and other items, so it is not WhatsApp revenue alone. (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
• Family of Apps other revenue rose $862 million, or 50%, in 2025, "mostly driven by paid messaging from WhatsApp and Meta Verified subscriptions". (Meta (Form 10-K 2025), Jan 2026)
• Family of Apps other revenue was $801 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, against $519 million a year earlier. (Meta (Q4 2025 results, Exhibit 99.1), Jan 2026)
• For the first nine months of 2026 it was $2,987 million, against $1,784 million in the same period of 2025. (Meta (Q3 2026 results, Exhibit 99.1), Oct 2026)
• It was $1,007 million in the second quarter of 2026, against $583 million a year earlier, and $1,891 million in the first half, against $1,093 million. (Meta (Q2 2026 results, Exhibit 99.1), Jul 2026)
• Meta's finance chief said in July 2026: "For the first time, quarterly Family of Apps other revenue reached $1 billion and grew 73% year-over-year, driven primarily by WhatsApp paid messaging and subscriptions revenue." (Meta (Q2 2026 earnings call), Jul 2026)
• In the first quarter of 2026 it was $885 million, up 74%, "driven primarily by WhatsApp paid messaging and subscriptions revenue". (Meta (Q1 2026 earnings call), Apr 2026)
• In the first quarter of 2025 it was $510 million, up 34%, driven mostly by business messaging on the WhatsApp Business Platform and by Meta Verified subscriptions, Meta said. (Meta (Q1 2025 earnings call), Apr 2025)
• It was $380 million in the first quarter of 2024, up 85%. (Meta (Q1 2024 earnings call), Apr 2024)
• Family of Apps other revenue was $334 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 82%, "driven by business messaging revenue growth from our WhatsApp Business Platform". (Meta (Q4 2023 earnings call), Feb 2024)
• In the fourth quarter of 2022 it was $184 million, up 19%, with business messaging growth on the WhatsApp Business Platform "partially offset by a decline in other line items". (Meta (Q4 2022 earnings call), Feb 2023)
• Meta One, a subscription rolling out across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, "has surpassed 15 million subscriptions and trials to date", Meta said in October 2026. The figure covers all three apps. (Meta (Q3 2026 earnings call), Oct 2026)

Family of Apps other revenue is Meta's GAAP figure, worldwide, for all its apps. It includes WhatsApp paid messaging, Meta Verified subscriptions and other items, so it is never a WhatsApp revenue figure. The paid messaging run-rate at the top of the page is Meta's own statement and annualises one quarter. Nine-month and half-year figures are year to date. Revenue from ads that open WhatsApp chats sits in advertising revenue, which Meta does not split by app.

How does WhatsApp compare with Meta's other apps?

WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram each have more than a billion daily users on Meta's own rounded statements, and Messenger more than a billion monthly. Meta also counts people across all its apps together, and WhatsApp is part of that count.

View data table

Meta Family daily active people worldwide by quarter, Q3 2024 to Q3 2026, in billions. This counts people using at least one Meta app, WhatsApp among them, not WhatsApp users.

Period	Value
Q3 2024	3.29bn
Q4 2024	3.35bn
Q1 2025	3.43bn
Q2 2025	3.48bn
Q3 2025	3.54bn
Q4 2025	3.58bn
Q1 2026	3.56bn
Q2 2026	3.60bn
Q3 2026	3.64bn

• Zuckerberg said in July 2026 that "Instagram reached 2 billion daily actives" and "Threads crossed 500 million monthly actives". (Meta (Q2 2026 earnings call), Jul 2026)
• In April 2025 he said Messenger "is also used by more than a billion people each month" and Threads had "more than 350 million monthly actives". (Meta (Q1 2025 earnings call), Apr 2025)
• Meta estimated that 3.56 billion people used at least one of its apps daily in March 2026, down slightly from December "due to internet disruptions in Iran and a restriction on access to WhatsApp in Russia". It did not say how much of the fall came from WhatsApp. (Meta (Q1 2026 earnings call), Apr 2026)
• In July 2024 Meta linked "promising signs on WhatsApp in terms of retention and engagement" with "India becoming our largest market for Meta AI usage". (Meta (Q2 2024 earnings call), Jul 2024)
• In July 2026 Zuckerberg said "WhatsApp is already the leading surface where people engage with Meta AI". He gave no figure. (Meta (Q2 2026 earnings call), Jul 2026)

Daily active people (DAP) is Meta's estimate of unique people using at least one of its apps, so it is not a WhatsApp user count and is not compared with Meta's WhatsApp statements. App figures are rounded remarks by Meta's chief executive. Meta says its estimates involving WhatsApp rely mainly on phone numbers and device information because of encryption.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from Meta's earnings call transcripts, releases, slides and Form 10-K, WhatsApp's blog, Meta's newsroom, WhatsApp's EU Digital Services Act notices and transparency report, the European Commission, survey researchers (Pew Research Center, the Reuters Institute, the Swedish Internet Foundation and ACMA) and Kepios, which compiles GWI survey data and Similarweb app data. Each figure links to the body that published it, with the date. Meta does not report WhatsApp users in its results, so user figures are the company's rounded statements, quoted with their date; Meta's daily active people across all its apps is kept apart from them. Family of Apps other revenue includes Meta Verified subscriptions and is never called WhatsApp revenue. EU figures cover WhatsApp Channels only, not messaging. Survey shares, app data and company statements are kept apart and never charted together or compared, and Reuters Institute year-on-year changes are left out because its platform questions were asked again in 2026. Figures we could not open at source are left out. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.

• ACMA (How we communicate) · Feb 2026
• European Commission (WhatsApp VLOP designation) · Jan 2026
• Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026) · Sep 2026
• Kepios (Digital 2027, Similarweb app data) · Oct 2026
• Meta (Form 10-K 2025) · Jan 2026
• Meta (newsroom, Apr 2025) · Apr 2025
• Meta (newsroom, Jul 2020) · Jul 2020
• Meta (newsroom, Jun 2026) · Jun 2026
• Meta (Q1 2023 earnings call) · Apr 2023
• Meta (Q1 2024 earnings call) · Apr 2024
• Meta (Q1 2025 earnings call) · Apr 2025
• Meta (Q1 2026 earnings call) · Apr 2026
• Meta (Q2 2023 earnings call) · Jul 2023
• Meta (Q2 2024 earnings call) · Jul 2024
• Meta (Q2 2025 earnings call) · Jul 2025
• Meta (Q2 2026 earnings call) · Jul 2026
• Meta (Q2 2026 results, Exhibit 99.1) · Jul 2026
• Meta (Q3 2024 earnings call) · Oct 2024
• Meta (Q3 2025 earnings call) · Oct 2025
• Meta (Q3 2026 earnings call) · Oct 2026
• Meta (Q3 2026 earnings slides) · Oct 2026
• Meta (Q3 2026 results, Exhibit 99.1) · Oct 2026
• Meta (Q4 2022 earnings call) · Feb 2023
• Meta (Q4 2023 earnings call) · Feb 2024
• Meta (Q4 2025 earnings call) · Jan 2026
• Meta (Q4 2025 results, Exhibit 99.1) · Jan 2026
• Pew Research Center (Americans' Social Media Use 2025) · Nov 2025
• Pew Research Center (news fact sheet) · Oct 2026
• Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet) · Oct 2026
• Pew Research Center (Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025) · Dec 2025
• Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026) · Jun 2026
• WhatsApp (blog, Apr 2014) · Apr 2014
• WhatsApp (blog, Dec 2013) · Dec 2013
• WhatsApp (blog, Dec 2025) · Dec 2025
• WhatsApp (blog, Feb 2014) · Feb 2014
• WhatsApp (blog, Feb 2016) · Feb 2016
• WhatsApp (blog, Feb 2020) · Feb 2020
• WhatsApp (blog, Jan 2018) · Jan 2018
• WhatsApp (blog, Jan 2019) · Jan 2019
• WhatsApp (blog, Jul 2017) · Jul 2017
• WhatsApp (blog, Jul 2024) · Jul 2024
• WhatsApp (blog, Jun 2025) · Jun 2025
• WhatsApp (blog, Nov 2022) · Nov 2022
• WhatsApp (blog, Oct 2011) · Oct 2011
• WhatsApp (blog, Oct 2020) · Oct 2020
• WhatsApp (DSA Channels user notice, 2023) · 2023
• WhatsApp (DSA Channels user notice, H1 2024) · Aug 2024
• WhatsApp Ireland (DSA transparency report, H1 2026) · Aug 2026