Telegram as an online message app has gained popularity due to its commitment to privacy and innovative features. With over 900 million monthly active users and a projection to hit the 1 billion mark by the end of 2024, Telegram now plans to have an IPO.
Globally, 15 billion messages are exchanged daily over Telegram, reflecting its central role in digital communication. From user demographics to message traffic, we’ll provide you with the insights to understand Telegram’s impact in 2024.
Top Telegram Statistics – Editor’s Picks
- Telegram has 900 million active users worldwide and aims to reach 1 billion by the end of 2024.
- Telegram has been downloaded over 1.3 billion times to date.
- Telegram is the 4th most popular messaging app in terms of user base.
- The messaging app is available in 155 countries and 66 languages.
- Telegram users have increased by 63.6% since 2021.
Brief Overview of Telegram
| Launch | August 2013 |
| Founders | Nikolai Durov & Pavel Durov |
| Messaging | Supports text, voice messages, multimedia files, and stickers. |
| Groups & Channels | Allows creating groups (up to 200,000 members) and channels for broadcasting to large audiences. |
| Security | End-to-end encryption for secret chats, self-destructing messages, and two-step verification. |
| Platform Support | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS |
Detailed Telegram Statistics You Should Know
This section sheds light on Telegram’s usage and financial data in detail.
Number of Telegram Users
There are 900 million telegram users globally as of 2024. This makes Telegram the 8th most popular social media in terms of users. Telegram users have grown by 63% since 2021.
Here is a table showing the growth of Telegram users over the years:
| Year | Telegram Users |
| 2024 | 900 million |
| 2023 | 800 million |
| 2022 | 700 million |
| 2021 | 550 million |
| 2020 | 400 million |
| 2019 | 300 million |
| 2018 | 200 million |
| 2017 | 180 million |
| 2016 | 100 million |
| 2015 | 60 million |
| 2014 | 50 million |
Source: Financial Times, Telegram.
Telegram users by country
- 9.87% of the world population uses Telegram with India being home to the highest number of users, at 104.04 million.
Indian users make up 6.66% of all Telegram users.
Here is a table showing Telegram users by country as of 2024:
| Country | Telegram Users |
| India | 104.04 million |
| Russia | 34.40 million |
| Indonesia | 27.21 million |
| United States | 26.85 million |
| Brazil | 21.94 million |
| Egypt | 14.85 million |
- Telegram gets an average of 49.41 million unique visitors every month.
- Telegram has 900 million monthly active users.
- Telegram has an average of 318.5 million monthly visits worldwide.
| Country | Average Time Spent Per Visit (Jan – Mar 2024) |
| Russia | 00:15:54 |
| India | 00:09:39 |
| Ukraine | 00:17:57 |
| Brazil | 00:13:02 |
| Italy | 00:10:20 |
- Telegram has had 955.6 million visitors between January 2024 and March 2024.
- Telegram gets 85.78% of its web traffic from the desktop and 14.22% from mobile phones.
- Telegram claims the 4th spot among the world’s most popular messaging apps in 2024.
- Telegram is the 13th most popular social media in terms of user base.
- Telegram has the highest traffic in Russia at 25.91%, followed by India.
| Country | Traffic Share |
| Russia | 25.91 |
| India | 7.21 |
| Ukraine | 5.58 |
| Brazil | 3.87 |
| Italy | 3.62 |
(Sources: World Population Review, SimilarWeb, DataReportal, Statista)
Telegram’s User Demographics
- As of 2024, Telegram has 58.09% male users and 41.91% female users.
- Telegram’s users are predominantly from Asia (38%), followed by Europe (27%), Latin America (21%), and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region (8%).
- Among Telegram users, 31% fall within the 25 to 34 age bracket, while 22.5% are 18 to 24.
(Sources: similarweb, World Population Review)
Telegram Downloads Over The Years
| Year | No. Of Telegram Downloads |
| 2023 | 409.5 million |
| 2022 | 367.23 million |
| 2021 | 382.92 million |
| 2020 | 326.31 million |
| 2019 | 141.5 million |
(Source: Statista)
Telegram’s Revenue Statistics
- In 2018, Telegram secured $1.7 billion in funding to support its strategy for monetizing the platform, which included plans for premium features, an ad platform, and the potential introduction of premium stickers to support artists and small businesses.
- Unfortunately, Telegram’s cryptocurrency, Gram, faced regulatory challenges, leading to its closure in 2020 due to the company’s failure to register the early sale of $1.7 billion in tokens.
- Before becoming public, the value of Gram may have appreciated by up to 200%.
- Notably, South Korea’s Gram Asia had plans to sell the cryptocurrency at $4 per Gram, potentially bringing Telegram profits of nearly $4 billion.
- Telegram’s founder held a net worth of $17.2 billion as of 2021.
Which Is The Most Popular Channel On Telegram?
‘Telegram Tips’ is believed to be the most popular channel on the platform. Telegram channels are a feature within the Telegram messaging app that allows users to subscribe to and receive broadcast messages from a channel administrator or creator. They serve as a one-to-many communication platform, enabling the dissemination of information, updates, or content to a large audience.
Top 5 Most Popular Channels On Telegram
| Channel Names | Number of Followers (in Millions) |
| Telegram Tips | 7.5 |
| Telegram News | 6.1 |
| Bollywood HD Movies Latest | 4.1 |
| Proxy MTProto | 3.3 |
| Crypto Trading Bitcoin | 2.9 |
(Sources: Avada, Thrive My Way)
Most Popular Channel Categories On Telegram
| Channel Category | Share of respondents |
| News related | 85% |
| Entertainment | 62% |
| Educational | 58% |
| Political channels | 50% |
| News from own industry | 48% |
| Personal channels of friends | 45% |
(Source: Statista)
Other Interesting Facts About Telegram
- Telegram users generate 1 trillion views in channels every month.
- Telegram will reward owners of public channels with at least 1000 subscribers with 50% of the revenue from ads displayed in their channels.
- Telegram has added over 15 new features in 2024, including recommended channels, a way to view your profile and display your channel and birthday on your page, and improved moderation tools for group admins.
- Telegram’s early 2024 update allows users to pin up to 3 stories to the top of their profile.
- Telegram users can create stickers and entire sticker sets using a powerful in-app editor.
- If you don’t use your Telegram account for a certain period, it can be set to automatically delete itself. This period can be adjusted from one month to one year.
- Telegram was the world’s most installed app in January 2021.
- Telegram allows users to have more than one account on the same device. You can easily switch between them without logging out.
- Users can now convert their Telegram accounts into business accounts, gaining access to features like opening hours, location, quick replies, and automated messages.
- You can schedule messages on Telegram. To schedule a message in Telegram, type your message, tap and hold the Send button, choose “Schedule Message” from the pop-up menu, pick the date and time, and then tap the Send button.
- The Saved Messages 2.0 update includes one-time voice and video messages that are deleted after being played.
- Telegram channel owners can launch giveaways to distribute prizes among their followers.
- Telegram now features a download manager that allows users to manage all their downloads in one convenient place.
- Users can import their chat history from other messaging apps into Telegram, making it easier to switch platforms without losing conversations.
- At least 85% of Telegram’s user base has Android devices.
(Source: Telegram, Business Insider, Atlas Obscura, Techpp, WebsiteBuilder)
Conclusion
Telegram insights prove that it’s a global communication powerhouse. Telegram will likely continue its growth with the launch of the Telegram Ad Platform in 2024 for all advertisers in nearly 100 countries.
Telegram remains steadfast in its commitment to privacy, even as it rolls out innovative features like group communication capabilities and blockchain-based initiatives. As we look forward, Telegram is poised to continue breaking new ground and shaping the future of communication.
