Instagram Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)

Mansoor Iqbal

Updated: February 23, 2024

Instagram is a photo and short video sharing social network. It was founded in 2010 by software engineer Michel Krieger and computer programmer and former Google-employee Kevin Systrom. The iOS release took place in October 2010, and the Android in April 2012.

The idea for Instagram came when Systrom was holidaying with his partner in Mexico in 2010. He and Krieger had a developed a multi-feature social platform called Burbn, focused on location sharing. He was contemplating adding photo sharing to the platform.

His partner, however, protested that the photos taken on her iPhone 4 were not of a standard to share. Systrom’s solution was to apply filters to the pictures, which quickly became Instagram’s key selling point.

It quickly became apparent that the best course would be to pare down Burbn, which had already attracted $500,000 in seed funding, to focus on this element. Thus, Instagram was born.

Within just shy of two years of operation, it was sold to Facebook for $1 billion. Systrom remained on as CEO until 2018, when Krieger (head of engineering) also left the company.

Instagram was a hit, rapidly gathering users to become one of the world’s biggest and most-influential social media platforms. By June 2018, the platform had hit 1 billion monthly active users.

Video sharing was added to the photo-sharing app in 2013, which mimicked the popular app Vine at the time. Instagram Stories launched in 2016, which allows users to upload a short series of photos, which are deleted after 24 hours.

The latter may have been pilfered from Snapchat, but in terms of sheer user numbers it soon left its rival in the dust. Stories alone boasted twice as many daily active users as its rival counts in total in 2018, with 500 million active users to the 239 million of Snapchat. Instagram would follow up the copying with the launch of Reels, a clone of TikTok’s interface, in 2020.

Instagram has played a central role in this century’s popular culture, with popular users dubbed ‘influencers’. Influencers have become a key demographic for Instagram, and the app has opened up its platform with shopping and other marketing tools to make these popular users more successful.

Instagram has received some criticism for its role in this growing industry, as photoshopped and fake images are used to sell products. However, Instagram has added filters and tags to ensure that photoshopped items and product placement are correctly identified.

We have collected data and statistics on Instagram. Read on below to find out more.

Instagram key statistics

  • Instagram generated an estimated $60.3 billion revenue in 2023, accounting for almost 44% of Facebook’s total revenue
  • Over two billion people use Instagram once a month, making it the fourth most popular social app worldwide
  • Instagram’s biggest market in terms of users is India, with over 400 million active users
  • Over 70% of Instagram users are under 35 years old

Instagram overview 

Title 1Title 2
Launch date6 October 2010
HQMenlo Park, California
PeopleAdam Mosseri (CEO), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta CEO), Kevin Systrom (co-founder), Mike Krieger (co-founder)
Business typeSubsidiary
OwnerMeta Platforms
IndustrySocial media

Instagram revenue

Instagram’s revenue has increased rapidly in the past three years, as the pandemic drew more users and brands onto the platform. It made an estimated $60.3 billion revenue in 2022.

Instagram quarterly revenue 2015 to 2023 ($mm)

Instagram annual revenue 2015 to 2023 ($bn)

YearRevenue ($bn)
20150.5
20161.8
20174.1
201810.3
201919.4
202026.8
202147.6
202251.4
202360.3

Note: All values are estimated. Source: Company data

Percentage of Meta Platforms revenue from Instagram

Instagram was responsible for 44% of Meta’s revenue in 2023 and is expected to surpass Facebook as Meta’s main revenue source by 2025.

Facebook revenue from Instagram 2015 to 2023 (%)

YearPercentage of revenue
20153.4
20165.6
20178.5
201815.6
201927.2
202033.8
202142
202245
202344

Sources: Bloomberg, Facebook 

Instagram users

Instagram reached two billion active users in Q3 2022 and has continued to grow at a steady pace. It is on track to reach 2.3 billion this year.

Instagram quarterly users 2013 to 2023 (mm)

Instagram annual users 2013 to 2023 (mm)

DateUsers (mm)
2013110
2014200
2015370
2016500
2017700
20181000
20191210
20201435
20211690
20221960
20232115

Note: Facebook updates Instagram MAU figures intermittently. Some values are estimated

Instagram users by region

Almost half of all Instagram users are in the Asia-Pacific region, with India and Indonesia two of the five largest markets in terms of active users.

Instagram users by region 2023 (mm)

RegionUsers (mm)
Asia-Pacific893
Europe338
Latin America299
North America224
Middle East and North Africa156
Sub-Saharan Africa86

Source: Company data

Instagram age demographics

70% of Instagram users are under 35 years old, but similar to Facebook, the percentage of users over 35 has increased every year since 2018.

Instagram age demographics 2023 (%)

AgePercentage of Users
34.1
32.2
17
9.5
4.3
2.9

Sources: Hootsuite, WeAreSocial

Instagram gender demographics

Gender demographics on Instagram are almost at 50/50, although in the app’s largest market (India) over 65% of users are male.

Instagram gender demographics 2023 (%)

GenderPercentage of Users
Male50.7
Female49.3

Sources: Hootsuite, WeAreSocial

Instagram vs social apps: users

Want to learn more about social apps? Check out our Social App Report

Instagram FAQ

How many times has Instagram been downloaded?

Instagram has been downloaded approximately 3.8 billion times. It was the fourth most downloaded app in the 2010s

How many people use Instagram Stories?

There are 500 million daily active users, approximately 1/3 of Instagram’s total audience

Who is the most followed account on Instagram?

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed user on Instagram, with 347 million followers as of September 2021

What is the most followed brand on Instagram?

Instagram is the most followed brand at 424 million users, followed by National Geographic with 186 million

What is the most interacted with industry?

Fashion accounts were responsible for 25% of all brand interactions on Instagram (Socialbakers)

What percentage of teenagers in the US use Instagram?

84% of US teenagers use Instagram, with 25% saying its their favourite social media platform (Marketing Charts)

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