What is WhatsApp?

WhatsApp began by a couple of ex-Yahoo! employees, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who couldn’t get a job at Facebook. They decided to develop a simple messaging app for the new iPhone ecosystem and named it WhatsApp. Ironically, in 2014, WhatsApp was purchased for $19 billion by the same Facebook that wouldn’t hire Koum and Acton.

WhatsApp’s user base and popularity has grown exponentially since those early days of the iPhone. The app is now available on all major mobile and desktop platforms and has over 1 billion users.

WhatsApp History

• 2009 – WhatApp is incorporated and launched
• 2010 – WhatsApp launches for Android
• 2013 – Voice messaging added to WhatsApp
• 2014 – Facebook acquires WhatsApp
• 2016 – WhatsApp ditches the $1 subscription fee and becomes a free app
• 2016 – WhatsApp desktop launches

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WhatsApp User Count

How many people use WhatsApp?

2 billion WhatsApp users

Last updated 2/12/20

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Additional WhatsApp Statistics

How many people use WhatsApp Status:

450 million daily active users

Last updated 5/1/18

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Amount time spent by WhatsApp users making calls on it each day:

2 billion minutes per day

Last updated 3/19/20

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Average number of WhatsApp video calls made daily:

over 55 million calls per day

Last updated 5/9/17

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Average number of WhatsApp video call minutes used per day:

2 billion minutes per day

Last updated 5/1/18

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Number of daily active WhatsApp users:

1 billion daily active WhatsApp users

Last updated 7/26/17

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Number of messages sent via WhatsApp daily:

65 billion messages per day

Last updated 5/18/18

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Number of languages supported by WhatsApp:

60 languages

Last updated 7/26/17

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Number of video messages sent via WhatsApp daily:

1 billion video messages per day

Last updated 7/26/17

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Number of photos shared via WhatsApp daily:

4.5 billion photos per day

Last updated 7/26/17

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Amount that Facebook bought WhatsApp for:

$19 billion

(Tweet this)

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Amount that Google reportedly offered to buy WhatsApp for:

$10 billion

(Tweet this)

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Estimated number of WhatsApp users in China:

2 million WhatsApp users in China

Last updated 7/19/17

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Number of WhatsApp users in Brazil:

120 million users

Last updated 6/15/20

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Number of WhatsApp users in India:

390 million WhatsApp users in India

Last updated 10/26/21

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Number of WhatsApp users in Indonesia:

59.9 million

Last updated August 2019

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Number of WhatsApp users in Mexico:

57.2 million

Last updated August 2019

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Number of WhatsApp users in Russia:

54.1 million

Last updated August 2019

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Number of WhatsApp users in Germany:

43.9 million

Last updated August 2019

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Number of WhatsApp users in Italy:

32.9 million

Last updated August 2019

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Number of WhatsApp users in Spain:

30.5 million

Last updated August 2019

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Number of WhatsApp users in the UK:

27.6 million

Last updated August 2019

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Top country for WhatsApp video calling usage:

India

Last updated 5/9/17

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Average amount of time Indians collectively spend making WhatsApp video calls daily:

50 million minutes per day

Last updated 5/9/17

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Number of WhatsApp active users when Facebook acquired them:

450 million monthly active users

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WhatsApp’s busiest day ever:

New Year’s Ever 2016 (63 billion messages)

Last updated 1/7/17

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Number of WhatsApp messages sent on New Years Eve 2017:

75 billion messages

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Number of countries that WhatsApp is banned in:

12 countries

Last updated 1/5/17

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Number of countries WhatsApp is used in:

180 countries

Last updated 2/3/18

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Number of people using WhatsApp for Business:

50 million users

Last updated 7/9/20

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Number of WhatsApp users that use it to message businesses each day:

175 million

Last updated 10/4/21

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Number of WhatsApp users in the Netherlands:

10.9 million

Last updated 2/27/17

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Percentage of all WhatsApp users that rely on it for news:

15%

Last updated 6/25/17

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Percentage of WhatsApp users in Brazil that rely on it for news:

46%

Last updated 6/25/17

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Percentage of WhatsApp users in Hong Kong that rely on it for news:

36%

Last updated 6/25/17

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Average number of fake accounts WhatsApp bans per month:

2 million

Last updated 2/6/19

Recent WhatsApp News

• WhatsApp begins rolling out message reactions to some beta users, 03/23/2022
• WhatsApp is working on new drawing tools for images and videos, 01/17/2022
• WhatsApp in-app chat support makes a quiet return, 01/21/2022
• WhatsApp plans to bring two-step verification to desktop and web versions, 01/23/2022
• WhatsApp features expected in 2022 — Message reactions, Android to iOS chat transfer, and more, 01/01/2022
• More Control and Privacy on WhatsApp With Default Disappearing Messages and Multiple Durations, 12/07/2021
• WhatsApp will hide your ‘last seen’ status from strangers by default, 12/14/2021

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Please note that some of these numbers are easier to find than others. A few of these WhatsApp statistics come from their own reports, but some are based on news reports and not official company tallies. No information contained on DMR should be relied upon to make investment decisions. Basically, this is the best I can find and I don’t guarantee anything to be 100%.

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