The most important WhatsApp statistics at a glance

In the digital era, communication via messaging apps has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. In the process, WhatsApp has established itself as one of the leading platforms worldwide. With over two billion users worldwide, it is more than just a simple messaging app - it is a platform that connects different cultures, age groups and regions. And it's not just private individuals, as many businesses also use WhatsApp. But what makes WhatsApp so special? In this article, we take a look at some impressive statistics about WhatsApp.

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Statistics on monthly active WhatsApp users

Let's start with a very basic statistic about WhatsApp: the number of monthly active users. The following chart shows the user numbers in selected months from 2013 to 2020. It can be seen that the user numbers have been increasing continuously for many years. In 2020, there were almost ten times as many WhatsApp users as in 2013.

Statistics on the worldwide WhatsApp user numbers — WhatsApp has seen continuous growth in user numbers in recent years (source: Statista)

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Comparison of WhatsApp to other messenger services

To be able to classify the user figures, a comparison with other messenger services is useful. WhatsApp was already the most popular messenger in the world in 2017. Facebook Messenger and the Chinese messengers WeChat and QQ had slightly fewer users. Other messenger services such as Skype, Viber, LINE, Snapchat, Telegram and Kakao Talk, which is widely used in South Korea, were already far behind. In the past six years, WhatsApp has significantly increased its lead over other messenger services.

Worldwide user numbers of messengers in 2017 — Even in 2017, when WhatsApp had only 1.3 billion users, the messenger was far ahead of the competition (source: Statista)

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Global market shares of WhatsApp

As can be seen in the statistics below, WhatsApp's market share among messenger apps varies widely around the world. In large parts of South America and Europe, WhatsApp is the undisputed number 1, but in North America, competition from Facebook Messenger and iMessage are causing the market share to drop to only about 30%. And this is despite the fact that WhatsApp is based in the USA. In Asia, with the exception of India, other messengers such as WeChat, LINE, QQ and Kakao Talk are significantly more popular than WhatsApp. Therefore, most Asian countries are not represented at all in the following statistics.

Statistics on the global market share of WhatsApp — WhatsApp has a high market share in Europe and South America in particular (source: Statista)

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Market shares of messengers and social media in Germany

As can be seen in the statistics above, WhatsApp has the seventh largest market share worldwide in Germany. This naturally raises the question of which other messenger services are popular among Internet users. Over 80% of Internet users use WhatsApp regularly. The social media platforms and messengers Facebook, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, which also belong to Meta Platform s, are used by 35% (Facebook Messenger) to 60% of Germans with Internet access. Other services such as TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter, Telegram and Snapchat are less popular.

Statistics on the number of users of messengers and WhatsApp in Germany — In Germany, WhatsApp is more widespread among Internet users than other messengers and social media platforms ( Source: Statista)

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WhatsApp Business takes off - statistics on worldwide downloads

WhatsApp is not only popular with private individuals. More and more companies have discovered that they can set themselves apart from the competition in customer service and marketing by using WhatsApp. This can increase sales and boost customer loyalty. As the following statistics show, in just four years the number of annual WhatsApp business downloads has increased almost tenfold. In 2022, there were nearly 300 million WhatsApp Business downloads. And the companies that use the WhatsApp API interface and thus make use of all the benefits that WhatsApp offers for businesses are not even included in this statistic.

Statistics on WhatsApp Business downloads — WhatsApp Business is being used by more and more companies for good reasons (Source: Statista)

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Statistics on the opening rate of WhatsApp newsletters

With these rapidly growing download numbers, the question naturally arises as to why more and more companies are using WhatsApp. In addition to the excellent customer service that companies can offer their customers on WhatsApp, WhatsApp newsletter marketing also plays a crucial role. After all, traditional marketing channels like email are becoming increasingly saturated. Many consumers receive dozens of email newsletters every week and delete most of them unread. In technical jargon, this phenomenon is called channel fatigue. As a marketer, there are only two options in such a case: Either emails can be further optimized in the hope that open rates will increase by 1 or 2%. Or it can be switched to a channel such as WhatsApp, where there is still little competition. That the latter option is likely to be associated with greater success is suggested by statistics on newsletter open rates. While email newsletters are only opened in ~22% of cases for the reasons mentioned above, the figure for WhatsApp is a full 98%.

The excellent open rate, combined with customer proximity on WhatsApp and the resulting significantly higher conversion rate, leads to significantly increased sales revenues. Various experience reports show that switching from email to WhatsApp newsletters can contribute significantly to a company's success. How exactly your company can also set up and use WhatsApp newsletters, we have described in our article"How to WhatsApp Newsletter". By the way: Mateo provides you with reliable evaluations and statistics on the behavior of newsletter recipients, which can be used to evaluate the success of your WhatsApp campaign.

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Start professional WhatsApp customer communication with Mateo

At Mateo, we are your messaging experts when it comes to customer communication and the right marketing. Hundreds of companies already use Mateo and are enthusiastic about it. Our customers particularly appreciate the following advantages of Mateo:
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Central user interface

In addition to WhatsApp Business API, Mateo bundles many other communication channels such as email, Instagram, SMS or Facebook Messenger in a central inbox. On the intuitive and clear user interface, you will find various helpful tools for particularly efficient customer communication. A web widget with the message channels you support is available for your customers for particularly easy contact.
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Custom Message Templates

Thanks to various message templates that can be created individually, the amount of paperwork is minimized and the efficiency of customer communication is increased. This means that personnel resources in the service area can be used elsewhere.
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With Mateo's WhatsApp API solution, newsletters can be sent in a DSGVO-compliant manner. Due to the first-class open rate of 98% for WhatsApp messages, marketing can thus be carried out significantly better than via email or other channels.

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More positive Google reviews

With Mateo, you create an outstanding customer experience. Mateo can automatically request online reviews from your customers. The more reviews you have, the better you will be found on Google, for example. Reviews also create trust in your company.
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Privacy

Mateo's messaging tool is compatible with all German and European legally binding data protection requirements. If the law changes, the software will be revised accordingly. For absolutely secure customer communication, all messages are encrypted end-to-end. You can read all the info about the DSGVO when using WhatsApp in our article"WhatsApp Business and DSGVO". This will help you avoid the warnings, severe penalties and expensive legal costs that often occur in the event of non-compliance with the DSGVO (= use of the standard WhatsApp Business app).
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Scalability for all company sizes

The scalability of the messaging tool has been confirmed by the large number of companies already using Mateo with high satisfaction. Whether customers have just a few employees or many hundreds, the software works smoothly and, depending on the package, with an unlimited number of end devices, users and phone numbers. The fact that Mateo significantly reduces the workload in the customer service area opens up new growth opportunities for many companies.
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Low cost provider for WhatsApp Business API

With an entry-level price of just 79 euros per month, Mateo is a cost-effective provider of WhatsApp Business API solutions on the German market. Combined with the integration of additional communication channels and various helpful tools, Mateo offers excellent value for money. Mateo's personal customer support assists companies with every step of the integration, ensuring very low barriers to entry.

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The most important statistics on WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business [October 2023].