Twitter, now branded as X, is a social media platform built around short-form public posts, real-time conversation, and live commentary on news, entertainment, sports, business, and culture. Launched in 2006, the platform became widely known for public timelines, hashtags, reposting (retweets), and direct communication between public figures, brands, media outlets, and users.
Because the company was taken private in 2022, public financial and operating disclosures are more limited than they were when Twitter was publicly traded. As a result, this page includes a mix of historical Twitter SEC-era metrics (such as MAU, mDAU, revenue, and net income through 2021) and selected third-party/archival data points, each clearly labeled by year.
X continues to operate the platform and maintains official company and policy resources under the X brand.
Twitter (X) Key Statistics
- Twitter/X stopped reporting MAU after Q1 2019 and shifted public reporting to mDAU (monetizable daily active users).
- 229 million mDAU was reported for 2022 (historical Twitter-era reporting).
- Twitter revenue in 2021: $4.505 billion.
- Twitter net income (loss) in 2021: ($221.409 million).
- Twitter employees: 5,500 (2021) (Twitter investor fact sheet reference).
Twitter (X) Statistics at a Glance
| Metric | Figure | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global mDAU | 229 million | 2022 | MSPoweruser (citing Twitter reporting) |
| Global mDAU | 217 million | 2021 | Twitter 2021 Annual Report / filings |
| Global MAU | 321 million | 2018 | Twitter 2018 Annual Report |
| U.S. mDAU | 38 million | 2021 | Twitter 2021 Annual Report / filings |
| Revenue | $4.505 billion | 2021 | Twitter 2021 Annual Report / filings |
| Net income (loss) | ($221.409 million) | 2021 | Twitter 2021 Annual Report / filings |
| Employees | 5,500 | 2021 | Twitter Investor Fact Sheet |
Twitter (X) User Statistics
How many people are on Twitter / X?
Note: Twitter stopped reporting monthly active users (MAU) after Q1 2019 and shifted to monetizable daily active users (mDAU) in public reporting.
- 2022: 229 million mDAU
- 2021: 217 million mDAU
- 2020: 192 million mDAU
- 2019: 152 million mDAU
- 2018: 321 million MAU
- 2017: 330 million MAU
- 2016: 319 million MAU
- 2015: 305 million MAU
- 2014: 292 million MAU
- 2013: 241 million MAU
- 2012: 185 million MAU
- 2011: 117 million MAU
Number of Twitter users in the U.S.:
Note: Twitter stopped reporting MAU after Q1 2019 and shifted to daily active metrics.
- 2021: 38 million U.S. mDAU
- 2019: 31 million U.S. mDAU
- 2018: 66 million U.S. MAU
- 2017: 68 million U.S. MAU
- 2016: 57 million U.S. MAU
- 2015: 65 million U.S. MAU
- 2014: 64 million U.S. MAU
- 2013: 54 million U.S. MAU
- 2012: 45 million U.S. MAU
- 2011: 30 million U.S. MAU
Twitter (X) Engagement and Behavior Statistics
Average number of Twitter accounts you can follow each day: 400 (2019)
The top 25% most active Twitter users produce 97% of all tweets: 97% (reported in 2022 article)
Percentage of Twitter users that tweet less than 5 times per month: 49% (2022)
Percentage of Twitter users that also listen to podcasts: 45% (2022)
Average number of followers per Twitter user: 707 (2016)
Tweets with videos see more engagement than tweets without: 10x more engagement (Twitter Business reference)
Tweets with images see more engagement than tweets without: 150% more engagement (Twitter Business reference)
Tweets with GIFs see more engagement than tweets without: 55% more engagement (Twitter Business reference)
Research finding on tweet concentration: The top 10% of Twitter users produce 80% of tweets (2019)
Twitter (X) Business and Financial Statistics (Historical Twitter Public Company Data)
Number of Twitter employees: 5,500 employees (2021)
Twitter annual revenue:
- 2021: $4.505 billion
- 2020: $3.718 billion
- 2019: $3.45 billion
- 2018: $3.04 billion
- 2017: $2.4 billion
- 2016: $2.5 billion
- 2015: $2.2 billion
- 2014: $1.4 billion
- 2013: $665 million
- 2012: $317 million
- 2011: $106 million
- 2010: $28.2 million
Twitter net income (loss):
- 2021: ($221.409 million)
- 2020: ($1.136 billion)
- 2019: $1.46 billion
- 2018: $1.2 billion
- 2017: ($108 million)
- 2016: ($456 million)
- 2015: ($521 million)
- 2014: ($577 million)
- 2013: ($645 million)
- 2012: ($79 million)
- 2011: ($128 million)
- 2010: ($67 million)
Additional Twitter Facts (Historical)
Number of people tweets reached each month on third-party properties: 1.6 billion (2017)
Percentage of world leaders that used Twitter: 92% (2017)
Number of world leaders active on Twitter: 276 (2017)
Number of fake Twitter users suspended in a 2018 cleanup period: 70 million
Number of Twitter users in Japan: 40 million (2016)
Number of Twitter users in India: 55 million active users (2020)
Twitter to X: Naming and Reporting Context
Twitter rebranded to X after the 2022 acquisition. Older statistics in this post reflect Twitter’s public-company reporting era and legacy media coverage, while current company resources are published under X branding. This is why older sections use Twitter-era terminology such as MAU and mDAU.
FAQ
How many people use Twitter (X)?
Twitter/X no longer provides the same level of public user disclosure it once did as a public company. Historically, Twitter reported 229 million mDAU in 2022 and 217 million mDAU in 2021 in widely cited sources and filings.
Does Twitter still report monthly active users (MAU)?
No. Twitter stopped reporting MAU after Q1 2019 and shifted to mDAU (monetizable daily active users) in its public reporting before the company later went private.
What was Twitter’s revenue before going private?
Twitter reported $4.505 billion in revenue in 2021, based on its public filings.
Why do many Twitter statistics pages use older data?
Because Twitter/X is no longer a publicly traded company, there are fewer official, standardized public disclosures than during the SEC-reporting era. Historical Twitter filings remain some of the most reliable sources for long-term trend data.
Sources and References
- About X (official company page)
- Twitter Investor Relations (archived investor resources)
- Twitter 2021 Annual Report (SEC filing)
- Twitter 2021 Annual Report PDF / filings
- Twitter Investor Fact Sheet (2020/2021 reference metrics)
- Twitter Q4 2020 Shareholder Letter
- Twitter Q4 2019 Selected Financials and Metrics
- Twitter 2018 Annual Report
- Twitter 2016 Annual Report
- Twitter 2015 Annual Report
- Twitter 2013 Annual Report
- Pew Research Center: Sizing Up Twitter Users
- Twitter Business Blog (creative engagement references)
