Finding a successful app that isn’t well-known in every continent is hard. According to tech experts, app success relates to the number of users on its platform.
However, WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform ahead of Facebook messenger, defies this logic. Due to the country’s structure and unique policies, the app has a design meant to mimic what WhatsApp does as a messaging app.
WeChat was started in 2011 by a Chinese tech company, Tencent, and was previously called Weixin. The app intends to reduce the growth of Whatsapp in China.
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Over the years, WeChat metamorphosed into a mega app that has found use in the lives of ordinary citizens of China. It is now the default home screen for most smartphones in the country.
Take a look at useful WeChat statistics and usage data you may have never known about before now.
Incredible WeChat Statistics
To put into context just how significant WeChat is in China, let’s look at some quick but impressive WeChat statistics:
- There are over 6.1 billion voice messages sent across the platform every day
- Over 45 billion messages are sent across the app by dedicated WeChat users
- Users on the platform spend over one hour using the app daily
- People use the app to get the latest news and promotions
- Over 200 million video messages are sent on the platform daily
- More than 200 million bank cards from Chinese banks are linked to the WeChat Pay aspect of the App
Despite not being very popular worldwide, WeChat’s numbers are undeniably impressive.
The WeChat usage statistics will blow your mind even further:
1. WeChat Has More Than 19 Million Users in the United States
Despite the lack of global popularity, Reuters suggests that WeChat has some following in the US. Based on data from Apptopia, the United States of America has 19 million WeChat accounts as of September 2020.
This number has since increased, showing that WeChat may begin to extend its scope of influence outside of China.
Despite the order to block users from using the app in the US, Chinese residents in the country resorted to using VPN to gain access to the app’s platform. As of September 2020, up to 6 million Chinese people have used WeChat in the US.
2. WeChat May Amass Up to 1.1 Billion Active Users by the Year 2025
China may have at least 1.1 billion users by 2025. WeChat dominates the social media space in that part of the world. Therefore, we can assume that the app will benefit significantly from this surge in social media users.
Also, as of 2021, WeChat’s active users stood at 968.32 million. Therefore, it is easy to see how that number can easily reach and surpass the billion mark by 2025.
3. WeChat Boast of at Least 1.26 billion Active Users Monthly
WeChat averages about 1.26 billion monthly active users. They pointed out that this number is increasing steadily every month. In September of 2022, the app recorded up to 1.31 billion WeChat official account users.
While this number remains inconsistent from month to month, there’s a belief that the number of active users on the platform will hit the billion mark soon.
4. In Terms of Monthly Active Users, WeChat Is the 5th Most Popular Social Media App
With over 4.8 billion social media users right now, WeChat commands at least 1.26 billion active users. This makes it one of the leading messaging apps out there.
Facebook takes the lead with 2.9 billion users, followed closely by Youtube with 2.5 billion users. WhatsApp and Instagram have 2 billion and 1.4 billion users respectively. In the meantime, WeChat is ahead of Snapchat, Telegram, and Tiktok.
5. Over 205 Million Video Messages Exchange Hands-On WeChat Daily
Over 40 billion messages were sent on the WeChat platform in 2022. Out of them, 205 million were video messages. A vast majority of people on the forum prefer to send video messages.
When you add this to audio messages, you will get 410 million messages daily.
6. 60% of WeChat Official Account Owners Confirm They Open the App at Least 10 Times a Day
Based on data
from adchina.io, at least 60% of WeChat users open the app at least ten times daily. Most of the people in this demographic are older adults.
The number is higher with younger users, with 21% confirming that they use the app at least 50 times daily.
If you think WeChat’s user data is impressive, take a look at its download statistics:
1. WeChat Has Over 22 Million Downloads in the United States
The New York Times recorded that since 2014, the WeChat app has enjoyed a little over 22 million downloads from major app stores on smart devices (this may not represent the number of WeChat official accounts).
As huge as this number may be, it only represents 7% of downloads made outside of China.
This information came out in 2020, so the current download numbers may be higher than 22 million.
2. The Highest WeChat Traffic Comes From China, With the US Being a Close Second
According to Similarweb, 24.28% percent of the traffic recorded on the WeChat app comes from within China. This percentage is higher than the 15.8% that comes from the United States.
Other countries in this mix contribute to the overall traffic that WeChat gets. The demographics that make up these traffic numbers are equally as important.
In the United States, at least 23% of WeChat users are between the age of 18 to 24. This demographic represents the highest number of people using the app in the US.
This age group goes a little higher in the UK, with the numbers at 24-35.
Furthermore, in the United States, 17% of men use the WeChat app based on Statista publications. Unfortunately, only about 6% are women from different age groups.
With these impressive numbers, how do they affect the app’s revenue:
WeChat Pay May Have More Users Than Apple Pay
Before we get the details of WeChat revenue, it may interest you to know that WeChatPay has more users than Apple Pay.
WeChatPay has 84.3% of the mobile payment system’s market share in China. This fact alone makes it the leading mobile payment method in the country.
ApplePay comes far from the number mentioned above. You also have to put into consideration that Apple Pay comes preinstalled with Apple devices.
WeChat Pay has over 900 million users; in China, up to 40 million stores make use of technology that accepts WeChat payments.
WeChat’s Parent Company Hit 17.49 Billion in Revenue in 2021
Since WeChat is just one of Tencent’s franchises, it is hard to single out its revenue. However, Businessofapps reports that Tencent’s revenue grew from $3.6 billion to $17.49 billion from 2015 to 2021.
And it is without question that WeChat contributes a great deal to this revenue base. This is mainly through the designated WeChat mini-programs like Wechat moments and WeChat Pay.
While this is not at par with those of the leading social media platforms in the world, it is still impressive for an app that’s currently not dominating the global mobile landscape.
Conclusion
These WeChat statistics show that the app has not had smooth sailing since its inception. However, with the app growing every day, it is only a matter of time before the app reaches the peak of its abilities.
For now, WeChat dominates China but it may soon take the rest of the world by storm.
Is WeChat a social platform you’d like to try?
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Paul Martinez is the founder of EcomSidekick.com. He is an expert in the areas of finance, real estate, eCommerce, traffic and conversion.
Join him on EcomSidekick.com to learn how to improve your financial life and excel in these areas. Before starting this media site, Paul built from scratch and managed two multi-million dollar companies. One in the real estate sector and one in the eCommerce sector.