Instagram in 2023 is a booming social platform whose features change, move, and disappear at breakneck speed.
Instead of chasing Meta platform updates, rely on hard data that shows what Instagram is right now and how it could change next year.
These 34 Instagram stats paint a picture of a platform with a changing audience that nonetheless holds its own in a crowded social landscape. This year you will find valuable information for planning your Instagram marketing strategy.
General statistics on Instagram
1. Instagram is the 8th most visited website in the world.
Based on total website traffic, Instagram is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the world, with a total of 4.25 billion monthly visits, according to Semrush.
It’s important to note that while most users log in through the mobile app, these stats are a good reminder that people can view your posts on their desktops or laptops. This means you can’t expect everyone to see in-app features like product tags. It’s worth mentioning product names in your captions so that web users can follow them if they’re inspired to buy.
2. Instagram ranks #9 in Google searches.
Facebook, Youtube, and “weather”outperform Instagram, but given that Insta is mostly accessed through the app, that’s an impressive number and more proof that your audience can view your content through a browser – be it on mobile or on their computer.. computer.
3. Instagram is the fourth most popular social platform.
Only Facebook, Youtube and WhatsApp have surpassed Instagram in terms of daily active users as Instagram has an impressive 1.386 billion people.
At the moment it is ahead of TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest and Snapchat, but 2023 will be a year of big change as TikTok quickly gains momentum.
4. Only 0.1% of Instagram users only use Instagram
There is a 99.9% chance that an Instagram user has an account on another social platform. For example, 83% of Instagram users are Facebook users, 56% also use Twitter, and 52% also use TikTok.
(Conversely, 81% of TikToker users also use Instagram.)
What does this mean for marketers? Chances are you’re reaching out to the same people on different platforms. Make sure your content is unique, engaging, and relevant to subscribers on every platform with a strategic cross-platform campaign.
5. Instagram is the most downloaded app in the world
TikTok comes in second, followed by Facebook and WhatsApp. Considering the Instagram app has been around since 2010, it’s an impressive place on the download charts.
Instagram user statistics
6. Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users.
We said above that 1.386 billion people use Instagram on a daily basis, but according to Meta’s latest earnings report, there are now over 2 billion using the platform on a monthly basis.
We’ll delve into how some of the top demographics make up this massive user base in the following Instagram user statistics.
7. The Instagram audience is 52.2% male.
And 47.8% of women. (At the moment, male and female are the only gender options available for meta reporting.)
This is a change from previous years, when the audience was slightly dominated by women. This is an important platform, no matter what gender you’re trying to achieve.
8. 47% of American adults use Instagram.
Pew Research found that nearly half of Americans aged 18+ use Instagram. And Forrester found that 40% of US adults use Instagram at least once a week. Message to marketers: It’s not just about Generation Z. However…
9. Instagram is Generation Z’s favorite social platform.
Global internet users aged 16 to 24 prefer Instagram over all other social platforms – even above TikTok. If you want to reach this age group, Insta is the way to go.
It is also the favorite platform for women aged 25 to 34, although men in this group prefer Facebook.
10. 61% of children aged 12 to 17 use Instagram weekly.
This is 4 percentage points more than last year. Meanwhile, Facebook usage in this demographic is declining (up to 40%), with TikTok usage growing the fastest (up 69%).
Social media usage is clearly changing in this demographic, so if you’re marketing to teenagers, you need to be on your toes. A solid social listening strategy can help.
11. India has the most Instagram users in the world
It’s a great reminder that Instagram offers access to a global audience, with 249 million users logging in from India (followed by 147 million users from the US).
In third place is Brazil with 117 million users, followed by Indonesia and Turkey.
This is important information when you think about how to define your target audience on Instagram and what content to create.
Instagram usage statistics
12. Users spend an average of 11.7 hours per month on Instagram.
It ranks fifth among social platforms after YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp. But whatever one may say, that’s almost half a day a month spent consuming content on the platform.
13. Americans spend 30.1 minutes a day on Instagram.
It’s definitely related to Facebook, but behind TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat.
Source: eMarketer
Let’s put this in context:
14. In 2022, Instagram accounted for 17% of the time American adults spent on social media.
eMarketer expects this to rise to 18.6% in 2024. In 2022, Instagram still outperforms TikTok in terms of percentage of time spent, but by 2024 they will be even.
Source: eMarketer
This chart shows how quickly things can change on social media when TikTok pops up out of nowhere. For now, TikTok’s profits seem to come from the loss of time spent on Facebook, rather than taking over Instagram’s share (which continues to grow).
However, this is a good reminder that you should never rely too much on one social platform or strategy. Divide your eggs across multiple baskets to protect your social marketing strategy in the future.
instagram story stats
15. The potential audience of advertising in Instagram Stories is 996 million people.
For reference, you can potentially reach 1.32 billion users on the main feed. Does this mean the main feed is the best ad bid? Not necessary. It all depends on where your audience spends most of their time.
Instagram analytics can help you figure out if your audience is getting more attention: stories or main posts in the feed. While it’s not the only factor to consider when planning your Instagram ad placement, it’s a useful data point to have on hand.
16. The most active brands post 17 Stories per month.
There’s an important lesson here for overworked social media managers: Give yourself a break. If the most active brands post stories about every day, you can feel confident saying no to the boss who expects daily Stories content.
Instagram Drum Statistics
17. Potential advertising audience on Reels – 758.5 million users.
Again, for reference, feed ads can be as high as 1.32 billion and Stories ads can be as high as 996 million. Expect this to change next year as Reels ads become more popular.
18. People share videos 1 billion times a day via DM.
Through DM! The dark social is real. Reels are well-established as the best Instagram surface for interacting with Instagram users who are not yet following your account. This is another way that reels can expand your reach.
19. Videos take up 30% of the time people spend on Instagram.
And that number is growing rapidly, up 50% from the 20% reported in Meta’s Q2 2022 earnings report. If you don’t already have an Instagram Reels strategy, make 2023 your year to break into the Instagram short video scene.
20. 21% of Gen Z American adults use coils weekly.
The Instagram Reels statistics for Gen Z pale in comparison to the 53% of the same demographic who use TikTok every week. But there is still a significant proportion of young people who watch short videos on Instagram.
This, combined with the Instagram user stats above, which showed a significant overlap between Instagram and TikTok audiences, means you can’t just post your TikTok reels and hope for the best. Just to get home, it’s always a good idea to create unique content for each platform.
21. Videos accounted for 5.4% of Instagram ad impressions between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
It’s still a small percentage, but it’s an astounding increase from 0.9% during that incredibly important buying period last year. Commercials are still relatively new and offer good opportunities for experimentation and testing.
22. 15 of the top 20 songs on Instagram Reels are from Indian artists.
We said above that India has more Instagram users than any other country, which certainly contributes to this statistic.
Instagram analytics can help you understand where your own audience is. Don’t assume that all of your followers live in the same country (or even continent) as you, or that their cultural experience is the same as yours.
Social media is a global medium and this is another reason to build a diverse social team within your organization.
Source: Meta
Instagram stats for business
23. Instagram is the #1 social network where people can connect with brands.
This statistic comes from Ipsos Marketing research commissioned by Meta. The exact wording is: “People posted said Instagram is the #1 place to keep up with your favorite brands versus other platforms.”What exactly this means is open to interpretation, but it certainly shows that people interested in your brand expect to find you on Instagram.
24. The average Instagram business account grows 0.98% followers every month.
Of course, this varies considerably depending on the industry. Here are some industry benchmarks for Instagram follower growth:
- Education: 0.03%
- Entertainment & Media: -1.59%
- Financial services: -0.07%
- Food and drink: -0.88%
- Real Estate: -0.06%
- Retail: -0.37%
- Travel/hospitality/leisure: 0.33%
Note that growth in many industries is negative right now, so don’t be alarmed if you notice that your follower count has dwindled a bit in recent months. To counter this trend, check out our tips for growing your Instagram followers here.
25. Business accounts post an average of 1.71 feed posts per day.
To break it down: For the average Instagram Business account, 48.9% of all posts in the main feed are photos, 31.8% are videos, and 19.3% are carousels.
It’s worth noting that the percentage of posts with videos has almost doubled from 16.3% last year. If you’re still only focused on photos when posting to Instagram, it might be time to upgrade your content strategy.
26. The average Instagram business account engagement rate is 0.54%.
This skew is slightly higher for video posts (0.61%) and slightly lower for photos (0.46%), but if you beat that 0.54% benchmark, give yourself a pat on the back.
Interestingly, the engagement rate varies depending on the statistics of the brand’s followers on Instagram. As brands grow in following, engagement rates tend to drop. Our Digital Trends report found that business accounts with less than 10,000 followers have higher engagement rates than brands with more than 100,000 followers.
Looking for inspiration to expand your engagement? We’ve prepared Instagram engagement tips for you right here.
27. 35% of Instagram users will make a purchase on the platform in 2023.
This is right after Facebook and TikTok, which will have a 37% share of purchases.
But percentages don’t tell the whole story due to the different number of users for each platform. Here’s what it looks like from the point of view of real people shopping on each social network:
Source: eMarketer
Keep in mind that buying behavior also depends on demographics. For Gen Z, Instagram is the leading social commerce platform.
28. 15% of US shoppers start shopping online with Instagram.
This year, TikTok has become a popular search engine among young Internet users. But for now, Instagram still ranks higher as a platform to start shopping online. By comparison, TikTok is the platform of choice for 11% of Americans who start shopping.
29. Instagram accounts for 7.51% of web traffic clicks from social media.
It may not sound like much, but it’s actually the third platform after Facebook and Twitter. (Facebook leads this category with 71.64%).
The more important detail here is that Instagram’s share of web traffic grew by 88.2% last year, while Facebook’s share decreased by 0.8%. Instagram used to have a real lack of ways to link to websites, but that has changed dramatically with the advent of shopping features like link stickers and tags. Keep an eye on this number to keep growing.
30. Only 25% of Instagram users believe that the platform protects their privacy and data.
This is a significant decrease from 41% in 2020. Ironically, given that Instagram falls under the Meta umbrella, it is still trusted by more people than Facebook (18%).
This is important for marketers because trust is an important element of social commerce.
Not surprisingly, the percentage of people who say they feel safe using the platform is also dropping from 50% in 2020 to 36% in 2022. This puts her roughly in the middle when it comes to social trust.
Source: eMarketer
Instagram ad stats
31. 61% of Instagram’s advertising audience are people aged 18 to 34.
Here are the specifics of how it is broken down by age and gender.
32. Instagram ads can reach 76% of the Turkish population aged 13+.
This is the highest ad penetration rate in the world, followed by 66.5% in Argentina and 65.9% in Brazil.
By comparison, Instagram ad penetration in the US is 51.4%. The UK and Canada account for 51.9% and 49.4% respectively.
And again we see that although Instagram is a global medium, it is not the same all over the world.
33. Instagram is projected to have $50.58 billion in ad revenue in 2023.
That’s still less than Facebook’s $71.32 billion, but Instagram’s share of the Meta ad pie is steadily growing.
This is because Facebook ad revenue is falling, while Instagram continues to grow. eMarketer predicts that Instagram ad revenue will grow by 12.1% this year and Facebook by 1.2%.
Source: eMarketer
34. Instagram CPM increased by 17% in the third quarter of 2022.
Over the past two years, they have grown by 55%.
Reaching out to your audience through Instagram is becoming more and more expensive, so it’s becoming increasingly important to understand your audience and make the most of the ad targeting options available.