The messaging app Telegram has only been around for a few years, but they certainly have seen significant traction since launch. The Germany-based app, promoted as faster and more secure than their competition, picked up a significant numbers of users immediately after their much larger competitor, WhatsApp, was acquired by Facebook. In addition to successfully positioning themselves as a WhatsApp alternative, Telegram also has a pretty good pedigree as it was started by the Pavel Durov, founder of one of Russia’s largest social networks, VK.com.

Telegram is young and numbers on it are still tough to come by, but here are a few of the more interesting Telegram app stats I was able to dig up. As always, I will be adding more as they become available, so be sure to check in periodically for more.

Please note that some of these numbers are easier to find than others. A few of these stats come from Telegram’s own reports, but some are based on news reports and not official company tallies. Basically, this is the best I can find and I don’t guarantee anything to be 100% accurate.

Telegram Facts

Year Telegram was released:

2013

Telegram founders:

Nikolai and Pavel Durov (founders of VK)

Telegram Stats

How many Telegram users:

Number of messages sent daily on Telegram:

15 billion messages

Last updated 2/23/16

Average number of messages sent daily per Telegram user:

150 messages

Last updated 2/23/16

Amount Telegram has spent on advertising:

$0

Last updated 12/8/14

Average number of weekly Telegram new user signups:

1 million

Last updated 12/8/14

Average number of new Telegram signups daily:

350,000 new users daily

Last updated 2/23/16

Reported number of new Telegram downloads in the few days following Facebook’s WhatsApp acquisition:

8 million downloads

Number of Telegram users in South Korea:

1.71 million users

Last updated 10/26/14

Number of new Telegram users in the 24 hours after Brazil temporarily banned WhatsApp:

5.7 million new users

Percentage of Telegram users that are on Android devices:

 85%

Last updated 1/3/17

Number of languages Telegram is available in:

13 languages

Last updated 10/10/17

What is Telegram?

Pure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices. Over 100 million active users in two and a half years.

FAST: Telegram is the fastest messaging app on the market, connecting people via a unique, distributed network of data centers around the globe.

SYNCED: You can access your messages from all your devices at once. Start typing on your phone and finish the message from your tablet or laptop. Never lose your data again.

UNLIMITED: You can send media and files, without any limits on their type and size. Your entire chat history will require no disk space on your device, and will be securely stored in the Telegram cloud for as long as you need it.

SECURE: We made it our mission to provide the best security combined with ease of use. Everything on Telegram, including chats, groups, media, etc. is encrypted using a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange.

POWERFUL: You can create group chats for up to 30,000 members, share large videos, documents of any type (.DOC, .MP3, .ZIP, etc.), and even set up bots for specific tasks. It’s the perfect tool for hosting online communities and coordinating teamwork.

RELIABLE: Built to deliver your messages in the minimum bytes possible, Telegram is the most reliable messaging system ever made. It works even on the weakest mobile connections. 

FUN: Telegram has powerful photo and video editing tools and an open sticker/GIF platform to cater to all your expressive needs.

SIMPLE: While providing an unprecedented array of features, we are taking great care to keep the interface clean. With its minimalist design, Telegram is lean and easy to use. (source)