What age group uses tiktok the most

Something SUPER special happened in 2016.

It was a tale of how one app under two names became the fastest growing social media application of all time, TikTok (for global audiences), and Douyin (for China).

In fact, TikTok amassed over 3 billion downloads and penetrated one-third of all social media users on this planet in less than four short years.

It took Facebook and Instagram almost a decade to get a user base that size; it seems TikTok really knew how to work the social media growth playbook.

In this statistic roundup, you’ll learn:

So, without further ado, here’s a roundup of the most newsworthy and jaw-dropping stats about this social media sensation.

Let’s dive right in:

TikTok Statistics (Editors Picks)

• TikTok active users: TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users.
• Market penetration: There are 4.8 billion internet users, 20.83% use Bytedance’s video sharing service.
• Number of downloads: TikTok has been downloaded 3 billion times and was the most downloaded non-game app in the first 6 months of 2021, hitting 383 million installs from January to June 2021 alone.
• Overtaking competition: Considering it was only released in 2016, TikTok was the 7th ranked social media app in 2021. TikTok has surpassed Twitter, Telegram, Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat in monthly active users.
• Company valuation: TikTok’s parent company (Bytedance) reportedly reached a valuation of $280 billion in August 2021.
• User growth rate: TikTok’s had a 1157.76% increase in its global userbase between Jan 2018 and July 2020; the U.S. saw a 787.86% user growth rate in the same period. India is the most significant contributor to TikTok installs, with 611 million downloads to date.
• Engagement: TikTok is the most engaging social media app, with an average session length of 10.85 minutes, double Pinterest at rank #2 with 5.06 minutes. In 2019, the time spent on TikTok was a mammoth 68 billion hours.
• Influencer earnings: TikTok creators have up to 100 million followers and earn up to $5 million a year. Popular categories for content are entertainment, dance, pranks, fitness/sports, and DIY.
• U.S. Market penetration: Monthly U.S. TikTok users have now passed 100 million, equalling 37.36% of America’s 267.6 million mobile internet users, an 800% increase in 20 months.
• U.S. Demographics: TikTok’s generation Z penetration is highest in America. 47.4% of their active users aged between 10 and 29. However, American adults using TikTok grew 5.5 times in the last 18 months, with a 2:1 female to male gender ratio.
• U.S. average time on the app: Americans 18 and over are estimated to have spent 1.43 billion hours on TikTok in March 2020.

When Was TikTok Made?

TikTok / Douyin was initially launched into China’s App market in September 2016 by parent company Bytedance; it racked up 100 million users in a year. TikTok, the international version, had a release date in September 2017 following the acquisition of a video-sharing startup, Musical.ly.

Douyin kept its launch name in China, and now the twin apps are available in 141 countries, working in 39 languages via the App Store and Google Play.

Monthly Number of Active TikTok Users

How Many People Are on TikTok?

According to parent company Bytedance, TikTok currently has 1 billion monthly active users.

In fact, these user figures make the app one of the fastest-growing ever in terms of the percentage of the market it’s captured since 2016.

Let’s break these numbers down.

Global TikTok User Penetration Statistics:

• TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users (MAU’s).
• Out of 4.8 billion internet users worldwide, 20.83% use TikTok.
• Out of 4.48 billion active social media users, 22.32% use TikTok on a regular basis.

Despite the dizzying entanglement with the Trump administration where nationwide ban threats emerged due to potential security risks, the U.S. has been a vital growth area in both revenue and users.

Let’s check out the current number of U.S.-specific users.

How Many Americans Use TikTok?

• By August 2020, the official number of monthly U.S. TikTok users was 100 million (based on quarterly usage), up 800% from January 2018’s company figures.
• eMarketer estimates suggest that TikTok has 73.7 million monthly active users in the U.S. (and is forecasted to reach 88.7 million by 2024).
• 31.1% of social network users in the U.S. access their TikTok account at least once a month. For comparison, usage penetration in the U.S. for Instagram and Snapchat is 53.9% and 40%, respectively.
• 37.36% of America’s 267.6 million mobile internet users access TikTok at least once a month.
  
• TikTok has 50 million daily active users in the U.S., meaning 18.68% of American’s with mobile internet users log in every day.
• TikTok’s Gen Z penetration is high in America, with 37.3% using the social media platform at least once per month.
• American’s 18 and over will spend 1.43 billion hours on TikTok in March 2020.
• On average, U.S. adult users spent 33 minutes per day on TikTok, ranking it 2nd by daily engagement after Facebook with 35 minutes.

Sources: CNBC 1, CNBC 2, Statista, Backlinko, BankMyCell, WorldoMeters, SmartInsights

Official Number of TikTok Downloads

How Many Downloads Does TikTok Have (App Store & Google Play)

According to SensorTower estimates, the total number of TikTok downloads has reached 3 billion, making it the most downloaded app in Q1 and Q2 2021. TikTok is the first app outside of Facebook to reach the milestone of 3 billion downloads.

Worldwide TikTok Download Statistics:

• Since its launch in 2016, TikTok has been downloaded 3billion times, gaining 383 million installs in the first half of 2021.
• From Q1 2020 through Q2 2021, TikTok gained 1.36 billion downloads.
• In March 2020, TikTok also broke another record with highest quarter-over-quarter growth in spending, reaching $535 million in Q2 2021 alone. Note: SensorTowers estimates on TikTok downloads include data on Douyin on iOS in China and exclude third-party Android stores.

Besides the advertising campaigns and pandemic, there were some key countries and territories behind the sudden leap of installations:

Top TikTok Downloads by Country (USA/China/Global)

• TikTok & Douyin is now in 141 of 155 countries, and comes in 39 languages.
• India is the most significant contributor to TikTok installs, with 611 million downloads to date, one-third of all smartphone users in India have downloaded TikTok.
• In 2019, 323 million TikTok downloads came from India, 43.76% of the 738 million global installs that year.
• China is the second-largest country for downloads for Douyin at 196.6 million to date; figures exclude third-party installs.
• The United States is the third-largest country for downloads, accumulating 165 million installs since launch, followed by Canada and the UK in the 4th and 5th place.

Top 10 Apps by All-Time Downloads (2010-2019)

According to AppAnnie, ByteDance’s app managed to rank #7 for all-time downloads. Not bad considering they launched two-thirds into the decade the measurement was taken from!

Sources: SensorTower 1, SensorTower 2, InfluencerMarketingHub, Mediakix, TikTok, Statista 1, Statista 2, AppAnnie

TikTok User Growth Rate Statistics

U.S. & Global Monthly Active User Growth Rates

According to parent company Bytedance, TikTok’s global monthly users have grown 1,157.76% since January 2018, where it had 54.7 million users. In the US, the app has seen a 787.86% increase in users within the same period, going from 11.2 to over 100 million active users.

Official Monthly Active User Growth (Worldwide)

According to company filings, these are the latest figures highlighting its 1,157.76% growth since 2017 for TikTok’s international app (excluding Douyin, which is covered below).

• Sep 2017: TikTok international launch.
• Jan 2018: 54,793,729 monthly users.
• Dec-18: 271,188,301 (394.9% increase).
• Dec-19: 507,552,660 (87.2% increase).
• Jul-20: 689,174,209 (35.8% increase).
• Sep-21: more than 1 billion users (45.1% increase).

Official Monthly Active User Growth (USA Only)

According to company filings for the U.S. market, these are the latest figures highlighting its 787.86% growth since 2017 for TikTok’s international app.

• Sep 2017: TikTok international launch.
• Jan 2018: 11,262,970 monthly users.
• Feb 2019: 26,739,143 (137.4% increase).
• Oct 2019: 39,897,768 (19.2% increase).
• Jun 2020: 91,937,040 (130.4% increase).
• Aug 2020: More than 100 million.

It’s no doubt that Bytedance’s app has crushed it, but it’s impressive how much. Since launching in 2016, TikTok has surpassed these social network startups in monthly active users, and these guys had a HUGE head start:

• Twitter – Launched in 2006 – 397 million active users
• Reddit– Launched in 2005 – 430 million active users
• Pinterest– Launched in 2010 – 478 million active users
• Snapchat– Launched in 2011 – 514 million active users

According to the data website Alexa, TikTok ranks 66th in global internet engagement.

TikTok Revenue Growth & How Much it’s Worth

• TikTok brought in $17 billion in 2019, a sizable revenue increase of over double the previous year’s $7.4 billion in 2018.
• In just under four years since the launch in September 2016, ByteDance investors valued TikTok / Douyin at $50 billion in July 2020.
• With a rumored valuation of $110-$180 billion, TikTok & Douyin’s parent company Bytedance is now the world’s most valuable startup.
• In 2019, TikTok more than doubled its revenue to $17 billion, up from $7.4 billion the previous year.

Sources: CNBC 1, CNBC 2, InfluencerMarketingHub, Alexa, Reuters, Bloomberg, Techcrunch

Where Does TikTok Rank in Social Media Popularity?

In September 2021, TikTok has risen to be the 7th ranked social network worldwide, with 1 billion active users.

Here are the exact numbers:

Sources: TikTok, Statista, CNBC 1, CNBC 2.

Key TikTok User Demographics

How Much Time do People Spend on TikTok?

Globally, the average time spent on TikTok per day is 52 minutes, with 90% of users accessing it on a daily basis. Its average session time of 10.85 minutes makes it the most engaging social media app available today. In the US, on average TikTok users spend 33 minutes per day using the app.

Engagement: Average Time Spent on TikTok

• The average time spent on TikTok per day is 52 minutes worldwide.
• Time spent on TikTok is skyrocketing too. In 2019, it saw a 210% year-over-year increase in engagement time on the app.
• In 2019, the time spent on TikTok was estimated to be 68 billion hours.

Engagement: TikTok User Interaction Statistics

• TikTok is the most engaging social media app out, with an average session length of 10.85 minutes (Double Pinterest’s 5.06 minutes that ranks #2 for engagement).
• The average person in the United States will open the TikTok app 8 times a day.
• TikTok engagement in the U.S. has increased by 1,533% between 2017 to September 2019. In comparison, Facebook declined 26% in the same period, and Instagram inched up by only 6%.
• Advertising brands need to pay attention – TikTok has an engagement rate of 5.30% on accounts with 100,000+ followers, compared to Instagram 1.10% and Twitter 0.30%
• In a recent Influencer Marketing Hub study, TikTok user profiles with 100,000+ followers have the highest engagement.

Average engagement rate in 2019 by followers

Demographics: U.S. TikTok Users by Age

Even though more adults adopt the app, only 31.3% of their user base is aged 40 and over. In fact, 47.4% of TikTok users in the U.S. are aged 10-29.

Here’s a full breakdown:

• 25% of TikTok’s active users accounts in the U.S. are people aged 10-19.
• 22.4% of TikTok’s active users accounts in the U.S. are 20-29.
• 21.7% of TikTok’s active users accounts in the U.S. are 30-39.
• 20.3% of TikTok’s active users accounts in the U.S. are 40-49.
• 11% of TikTok’s active users accounts in the U.S. are 50+.

Between 2018-2020, the number of American adults using TikTok grew 5.5 times.

Demographics: TikTok Users by Gender

Recent gender demographics in 2020 show TikTok skews 60% of females, and 40% of males use the app worldwide. In the United States, however, female users outnumber males 2:1.

Sources: Statista 1, Statista 2, Statista 3, Statista 4, Backlinko, Business of Apps, AppAnnie, Hootsuite, Mediakix, Reuters, Builtvisible, InfluencerMarketingHub

Top TikTok Users, Categories & Creator Earnings

The most-followed TikTok user is Charli D’Amelio, with over 125 million followers, a 37.72% increase since October 2020.

TOP 10: Popular TikTok Users/Channel Creators

Here are the exact follower numbers:

Let’s take a look at how much the creators make with that number of followers:

TikTok User Earnings

What about brands?

It’s worth mentioning that in June 2020, they launched the ability for brands to run their own ads within the video-sharing giants’ app.

Now they have an established advertising platform like their peers; we can expect to see colossal growth in the company’s revenue and the value of parent company Bytedance.

So, where is all the action happening?

Let’s take a look at the top video-sharing platforms by category views.

TOP 10: TikTok Content Categories

Here’s a table with all the numbers:

If you want to get seen, you’re going to need the right hashtags to boost engagement.

10 Best TikTok Hashtags in terms of popularity

1. # tiktok.
2. # love.
3. # funny.
4. # memes.
5. # followme.
6. # cute.
7. # fun.
8. # music.
9. # happy.
10. # fashion.

These are the top hashtags used today in terms of popularity, however, you’ll get lost in the sheer number of posts.

If you’re looking to get noticed, you should use category-focused hashtags and keep an eye on trending ones too, InfluencerMarketingHub has a great guide.

Sources: Social Blade, Statista 1, Statista 2, InfluencerMarketingHub

Conclusion

That’s a wrap for my roundup of TikTok statistics.

The stat that knocked my socks off was the fact Bytedance’s apps grew their monthly users at twice the rate of current market leaders like Facebook and Instagram – I can’t wait to see how this growth rate unfolds.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Do you think their growth is sustainable? What else would you like to see added to this roundup? Or have a question?

Either way, please jump in and leave a comment below.