With a reported 700 million monthly active users as of early 2023, the Telegram messaging app would be the third-largest country in the world by population if it were a country. Founded in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2013 and currently based in the Middle Eastern country United Arab Emirates (the city of Dubai to be precise), Telegram is used by nearly 9% of the world's population as of early 2023. The Telegram app is available for download at Google's android Play Store in 155 countries, in Microsoft's Windows Store app in 52 countries, and on the iOS app store.
Telegram Usage Statistics
The 2023 Telegram statistics show that the platform has grown extensively since its launch in August 2013. Its user base has expanded at an average rate of more than 40% every year.
Telegram has 55.2 million daily active users and 700 million active users per month, an increase of roughly 230% from 2019. Its user base consists of 58.6% male and 41.4% female users, and the average user spends 2.9 hours on Telegram each month. According to Pavel Duroy, Telegram founder, Telegram registered 25 million new users during a 72-hour surge in January 2021. This equates to around 8.33 million new signups each day, and corresponded with the release of an updated privacy policy by WhatsApp, a similar messaging app which is Telegram's biggest competitor in many countries.
By August 2021, Telegram had received a billion downloads, becoming the 15th app in the world to reach that milestone. It also became the seventh-most-downloaded app across iOS & android. Telegram is now the 10th-most-used social media platform worldwide.
In Which Country Is Telegram Based?
Telegram’s development team is currently based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its parent firm, Telegram Group Inc., is legally registered in the British Virgin Islands. Its legal data protection legislation representative is Telegram U.K. Holdings Ltd, a company based in the United Kingdom. However, Telegram reveals little regarding the precise locations of its offices and employees, ostensibly in an effort to protect them from undue influence or harassment.
According to Telegram's website, the app Telegram is officially available in twelve languages on most platforms as of 2023: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. However, it unofficially supports a reported total of 66 languages and counting.
Telegram Use by Country
Here’s the ranking of the Telegram use by country in the iOS App Store under the social networking category
- Netherlands - 2
- Russia - 1
- United States - 2
- United Kingdom - 2
Telegram statistics show that it has a highly diverse user base. While the app has users all around the globe, the majority are from Asia (38%), followed by Europe (27%), Latin America (21%), and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region (8%).
Telegram Use in Russia
In its lifetime, Telegram has reportedly been downloaded approximately 100 million times in Russia, which represents 10% of the app's total downloads. According to a Deloitte survey, 50% of Russians have Telegram installed on their mobile device—a 40% increase from 2019. The app's popularity is quickly gaining on that of WhatsApp, which has been installed by 88% of Russian residents. Telegram is particularly popular in countries known for censorship and surveillance, including not only Russia, but also Iran and Uzbekistan.
Telegram Use in the United States
Telegram's popularity in the United States is somewhat lower than in many other countries. Telegram in the United States has been downloaded roughly 20 million times in 2023 and tallies some 10 million monthly users. While these statistics might be impressive for other apps, the US accounts for less than 2% of Telegram’s total user base worldwide.
Telegram Use in Indonesia
The Telegram app had been downloaded 80 million times in Indonesia by August 2021, which represents roughly 8% of the worldwide share of Telegram downloads. A reported 28.5% of Indonesians use Telegram.
Telegram Use in India
India is Telegram's largest market and accounts for approximately 22% of the app's global downloads, with more than 220 million total downloads as of August 2021.
