We continue our series of Chinese digital stat posts today by taking a look at some interesting WeChat statistics. WeChat (called Weixin in China) is China's version of WhatsApp or LINE and has one of the largest user bases among the ever-growing number of chat apps and social media networks.
In less than a decade, WeChat has permeated virtually every aspect of Chinese life. Think about how prevalent Facebook is in Western culture and multiply that effect. WeChat is used in both personal and business settings and really has become the default means of Chinese person-to-person and person-to-business communications.
With a digital platform as big as WeChat, there are countless facets to measure its size and growth by. Here are a few of the more interesting WeChat statistics I've been able to dig up in my internet travels. I hope you find this data helpful..
WeChat Facts
- WeChat website: wechat.com
- Release date of WeChat: January 2011
- WeChat headquarters: Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China
- WeChat owner: Tencent
- WeChat creator: Xiaolong Zhang
What is WeChat?
WeChat is a messaging and calling app that allows you to easily connect with family & friends across countries. It's the all-in-one communications app for text (SMS/MMS), voice and video calls, Moments, photo sharing, and games. (source)
WeChat Statistics
How many people use WeChat?
WeChat Monthly Active Users Chart 2014-2018 (in millions)
- 2020: 1.2 billion MAU (as of 7/28/20)
- 2019: 1.16 billion MAU
- 2018: 1.097 billion MAU
- 2017: 988.6 million MAU
- 2016: 889.3 million MAU
- 2015: 697 million MAU
- 2014: 500 million MAU
Average number of WeChat daily active users:
Last updated 3/5/18
Average number of messages sent on WeChat each day:
Last updated 11/15/17
Average number of voice messages sent on WeChat each day:
Last updated 11/20/17
Average amount of time WeChat users spend on it daily;
Last updated 8/1/19
Number of corporate WeChat accounts:
Last updated 11/29/17
Number of people that use WeChat Moments daily:
Last updated 3/18/19
Average number of times users check their Moments daily:
Last updated 3/18/19
Total number of times Moments are checked each day:
Last updated 3/18/19
Percentage of corporate WeChat accounts that are active:
Last updated 11/29/17
Number of WeChat users that access it on a smartphone:
Last updated 1/23/16
How many people use WeChat outside of China:
Last updated 4/16/16
Average number of calls connected on WeChat each day:
Last updated 12/29/17
Average number of times a day a Chinese user checks WeChat:
Last updated 8/19/16
Average number of friends for users on WeChat:
Last updated 6/21/16
Percentage of Chinese people aged 50-80, that use WeChat:
Last updated 3/27/18
Number of users for WeChat Pay:
Last updated 3/1/18
Number of WeChat Pay Score users:
Last updated 1/9/20
Number of WeChat Channels users:
Last updated 7/28/20
Number of merchants and businesses connected via WeChat Pay:
Last updated 2/6/20
Average number of daily WeChat Pay transactions:
Last updated 2/6/20
WeChat Pay's share of the China mobile payment market:
Last updated 12/31/18
Number of offline stores that accept WeChat Payment:
Last updated 2/5/16
Number of countries WeChat Pay is available in:
Last updated 8/22/18
Number of currencies WeChat Pay is available in:
Last updated 3/1/18
Percentage of internet users in China that use Wechat Moments:
Last updated 9/5/17
Number of daily active WeChat mini-programs users:
Last updated 7/29/20
Total transactions in WeChat mini program in 2019:
Number of WeChat mini programs with more than 1 million monthly active users:
Last updated 7/26/19
Number of WeChat mini programs with more than 1 million daily active users:
Last updated 7/1/19
Number of WeChat mini programs with more than 5 million monthly active users:
Last updated 7/26/19
Number of Mini Games available on WeChat:
Last updated 5/17/18
Number of Mini Programs available on WeChat:
Last updated 1/15/20
Number of daily active WeRun users:
Last updated 11/20/17
Percentage of China's total data traffic that comes from WeChat:
Last updated 5/7/18
Percentage of WeChat users that use it for work:
Last updated 4/25/17
Percentage of WeChat users that use WeChat Pay:
Last updated 4/25/17
Percentage of WeChat users that spend more than 4 hours a day on it:
Last updated 4/23/17
Number of WeChat users that are 55 or older:
Last updated 10/31/18
Number of WeChat Work users:
60 million monthly active users
Last updated 1/6/20
Number of businesses using WeChat Work:
Last updated 1/6/20
Percentage of the top 500 enterprises in China that use WeChat Work:
Last updated 3/21/19
WeChat total daily payment transaction volume in 2018:
Percentage of WeChat mini-program users that are men:
Last updated 4/4/19
Percentage of WeChat mini-program users that are women:
Last updated 4/4/19
Percentage of WeChat users that are between the ages 15-29:
Last updated 6/21/16
Percentage of WeChat users that spend at least 90 minutes a day on it:
Last updated 12/29/16
First major company to implement e-commerce on WeChat:
Amount of calling WeChat users do on it daily:
Last updated 6/21/16
Amount of free calls WeChat users made on Lunar New Year 2017:
Number of red packets WeChat users exchanged on Lunar New Year 2017:
Number of stickers WeChat users sent on Lunar New Year 2017:
Number of WeChat users in Malaysia:
Last updated 11/20/17
Average number of monthly voice or video calls a WeChat user makes using it:
Last updated 11/20/17
Average amount of monthly voice or video calls a WeChat user makes using it:
Last updated 11/20/17
Amount of consumption WeChat drove in China in 2017:
Percentage of WeChat users that use Official Accounts:
Last updated 8/1/19
Percentage of WeChat users that follow less than 20 Official Accounts:
Last updated 8/1/19
Average reach of WeChat official accounts articles:
Last updated 1/16/20
Get the Industry Report
This report is available in an annual industry report. Some of the data in industry reports include:
- Company stats
- User stats
- Activity stats
- WeChat Payments Stats
- WeChat Moments Stats
- WeChat Enterprise Stats
- Etc.-all in one place
I try to go through each and every stat regularly and update as much as possible, but we all know that some stats are easier to track down than others. As always, every stat is linked to its original source and has the source date listed.
To get your copy of the report, click on the button below to purchase it.
Number of WeChat public accounts:
Last updated 1/22/15
Daily growth in WeChat public accounts:
Last updated 6/23/14
Number of WeChat accounts that were shut down in June 2014 because they were linked to prostitution:
Number of WeChat accounts that were shut down in June 2014 because they were fake:
Number of apps connected to WeChat:
67,000
Last updated 8/1/14
Number of WeChat advertisers:
Last updated 8/1/14
Number of WeChat publishers:
Last updated 8/1/14
Number of WeChat app developers:
Last updated 8/1/14
Number of users for WeChat's workplace version, Maimai:
Last updated 8/14/14
Percentage of Global internet users that use Wechat:
Last updated 10/9/15
Percentage of mobile internet users in the US that use WeChat monthly:
Last updated 10/20/14
Percentage of mobile internet users in India that use WeChat monthly:
Last updated 10/20/14
Percentage of internet users in China that use WeChat:
69%<
Last updated 10/9/15
Number of WeChat users in South Africa:
Last updated 2/5/16
Percentage of WeChat users that follow media accounts:
Last updated May 2014
Percentage of WeChat users that follow celebrity accounts:
Last updated May 2014
Percentage of WeChat users that use it for voice messaging:
Last updated May 2014
Percentage of WeChat users that use it for text messaging:
Last updated May 2014
Percentage of WeChat users that log onto it more than once a day:
Last updated 11/13/14
Percentage of global adult internet users that use WeChat monthly:
Last updated 11/20/14
Percentage of APAC adult internet users that use WeChat monthly:
Last updated 11/20/14
Percentage of WeChat users that are aged 16-24:
Last updated 11/20/14
Percentage of WeChat users that are aged 25-34:
Last updated 11/20/14
Percentage of WeChat users that are aged 35-44:
Last updated 11/20/14
Percentage of WeChat users that are aged 45-54:
Last updated 11/20/14
Percentage of WeChat users that are aged 55-64:
Last updated 11/20/14
Average number of WeChat articles read daily by users:
Last updated 1/6/15
Number of different languages WeChat is available in:
Last updated 1/22/15
Number of countries WeChat has users in:
Last updated 1/22/15
Number of WeChat investment fund users:
Last updated 1/16/15
WeChat Friends' share of total Chinese social sharing in 2013:
WeChat Moment's share of total Chinese social sharing in 2013:
Number of WeChat messages that were processed in a single minute on Lunar New Year's eve:
10 million messages
Number of cities in China that WeChat Moments local ads support:
Last updated 9/22/16
Number of business districts in China that WeChat Moments local ads support:
Last updated 9/22/16
Estimated value of WeChat:
Last updated 2015
Number of Chinese office workers that use WeChat enterprise accounts:
Last updated 8/19/16
Percentage of total messages sent on WeChat that are sent by "typical" users:
Year over year (2015-2016) growth in calls connected on WeChat:
Average amount of time spent by users on WeChat in 2016:
Top country for Wechat usage (based on percentage of usage by online adults in each market):
Last updated Q1 2015
Percentage of internet users, age 16-65, in China that use WeChat:
Last updated 12/1/15
WeChat year over year growth (2015-2016) in daily logged in users:
Year over year (2015-2016) growth in messages sent on WeChat:
Percentage of China social media users that used WeChat in 2015:
Percentage of China social media users that used WeChat in 2014:
Percentage of China social media users that used WeChat in 2013:
Percentage of WeChat users in China that use it more than 30 times a day:
Last updated 6/9/16
Percentage of WeChat users that access it daily:
Last updated 6/9/16
Percentage of WeChat users in China that spend more than an hour a day on it:
Last updated 6/9/16
Percentage of millennials that use WeChat globally:
Last updated 2/11/15
Percentage of Wechat daily active users that are between 15-29 years old:
Last updated 11/5/15
Average daily amount of audio chatting that takes place on Wechat:
Last updated 11/5/15
Most active time of the day on Wechat:
Last updated 11/5/15
Male users spend 1.3x more time shopping on Wechat than female users.
Last updated 11/5/15
Percentage of Wechat users that play games on it daily:
Last updated 11/5/15
Average number of times Wechat users visit it daily:
Last updated 9/30/15
Percentage of Wechat users that are students:
Last updated 8/14/15
Percentage of Wechat posts that get censored:
Last updated 7/20/15
Percentage of WeChat users that purchase products online:
Last updated August 2015
Percentage of WeChat users that are "typical" users (born in the 80's or 90's):
Last updated 12/29/16
Number of WeChat users that have credit cards attached to their accounts:
Last updated 12/30/16
Percentage of the population Tier 1 cities in China that use WeChat:
Last updated 4/16/16
Percentage of the population Tier 2 cities in China that use WeChat:
Last updated 6/21/16
Maximum number of friends that a WeChat personal account can have:
Last updated 5/23/14
Number of followers required before a business can advertise on WeChat:
Last updated 7/7/14
Average amount of time Chinese adults spend on WeChat daily:
Last updated 4/23/15
Percentage of WeChat revenue in 2014 that came from mobile ad sales:
Last updated 4/2/15
Percentage of WeChat users that open it more than 10 times a day:
Last updated 1/27/15
Dollar amount of data that WeChat users consumed in 2014:
$15.3 billion US
Percentage of WeChat users that have 50 or more contacts:
Last updated 1/27/15
Percentage of WeChat users that are male:
Last updated 8/14/15
Percentage of WeChat users that are female:
Last updated 8/14/15
Percentage of WeChat users that are between the ages of 18-36:
Last updated 1/27/15
Percentage of WeChat users that have used WeChat stickers:
Last updated 1/27/15
Percentage of WeChat apps that are free:
Last updated 12/5/13