How Many People Use WeChat? User Statistics & Trends (Mar 2023)

In 2023, WeChat is expected to reach 1.671 billion monthly active users (MAU) worldwide. It will show a significant year-on-year (YoY) growth of 8.43% or 13 million from the estimated number of WeChat users last year. It is currently the fifth most popular social media app with 1.309 billion MAU.

An interesting fact to note is that WeChat is called Weixin in China. It is one of the messaging apps created by the Chinese company Tencent rebranded as WeChat for international audiences.

The messaging service has many popular features, particularly Moments, wherein WeChat users can update their status and share photos and videos with friends. According to the WeChat usage statistics, most users open the app to check WeChat Moments.

Note: *Annual Number of Active Users on WeChat (2011-2025)

The growth of WeChat active users has been slow-moving in the past few years as most Chinese smartphone users have an account. According to the latest WeChat statistics, there are 1.26 billion active users on the messaging app in 2021, accounting for 80% of China’s total population.

WeChat users are expected to reach 1.671 billion by 2023, an increase of 13 million or 8.43% over last year. The projected number of users by 2025 is 1.93 billion, representing a growth rate of 15.49% or 259 million over the current year.

WeChat Mini Programs has an estimated 614 million daily active users in 2023. It shows a substantial year-on-year (YoY) growth of 13.91% or 75 million over the last year. Mini Program users spend more time on mobile gaming.

WeChat Mini Programs is a cloud-based sub-applications within the ecosystem. According to the WeChat revenue statistics from Tencent, which owns WeChat, the company’s annual transactions rose by more than 600% when the foreign business launched mini programs.

Note: *Number of users was estimated using linear regression analysis based on data from Statista.

WeChat Mini Programs is anticipated to reach 764 million daily active users by 2025, an increase of 75 million or 10.88% from last year’s estimated number of users. According to the WeChat usage stats in 2020, WeChat users spend an average of 68.1 minutes on WeChat Mini Programs.

WeChat Mini Programs users are expected to reach 614 million by 2023, an increase of 75 million or 13.91% over last year. The projected number of users by 2025 is 764 million, representing a growth rate of 24.42% or 150 million over the current year.

WeChat Pay is China’s second most popular digital payment option, with an estimated 1.133 billion active users in 2023. It will show a significant increase of 92 million or 8.83% over the last year.

WeChat Pay is WeChat’s payment app launched in 2013. The Chinese customer base includes people of all ages. Music, travel, and food are some of the most popular hobbies among WeChat Pay users.

Note: *Number of users was estimated using linear regression analysis based on data from BusinessofApps.

WeChat Pay is expected to reach 1.318 billion users by 2025, an increase of 93 million or 7.59% from last year’s estimated number of users. WeChat Pay users increased significantly over five years, from 430 million in 2016 to 900 million in 2021.

WeChat Pay users are expected to reach 1.133 billion in 2023, an increase of 92 million or 8.83% over last year. The projected number of users by 2025 is 1.318 billion, representing a growth rate of 16.32% or 185 million over the current year.

WeChat Work is expected to reach 102 million users in 2023, an increase of 11.5 million or 12.70% from the previous year.

WeChat Work, commonly known as WeCom, is a remote working solution developed by Tencent. It has 73.40 million active users in 2021. The platform’s user base doubled as people adapted to working from home setups.

Note: *Number of users was estimated using linear regression analysis based on data from BusinessofApps.

WeChat Work is expected to reach 125 million users by 2025, an increase of 11.5 million or 10.13% from the estimated number of users last year. Over four years, the number of WeChat Work users increased by more than half, from 30 million in 2017 to 75 million in 2021.

WeChat Work users are expected to reach 102 million in 2023, an increase of 11.5 million or 12.70% over the estimated number of users last year. The projected number of users by 2025 is 125 million, representing a growth rate of 22.54% or 23 million over the current year.

WeChat is popular among internet users over 50, accounting for 22.7% of the total users, with males accounting for 52.9%.

22.7% of WeChat users are over the age of 51, according to the most recent WeChat stats by age distribution. The under-24 age group comes in second with a 22.3% share, slightly behind the 51 and up an age group.

WeChat users are mostly males, with a 52.9% share of the total WeChat accounts, which is only slightly higher than female users, who account for 47.1% based on the latest WeChat statistics by gender distribution.

China has the largest WeChat app downloads, accounting for 66.31 million in 2022. Although WeChat has predominantly Chinese users, it also has users in other countries, such as the United States, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. These countries contributed 7.3 million app downloads, with the United States contributing the most.

China has the most WeChat app downloads, with 66.31 million, followed by the United States, with 2.08 million in 2022. Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Vietnam also saw significant growth in WeChat user numbers, with 2.07 million and 1.78 million app downloads, respectively.

China has the highest share of WeChat in-app purchase (IAP) revenue, generating US $55.97 million or 91% of the total share

China has the largest WeChat in-app purchase revenue, accounting for US $55.97 million in 2022. Other important markets for WeChat included the United States, Hong Kong, and Canada, which collected US $3.7 million in IAP revenue.

WeChat is not just a messaging app; it also features a video channel where content creators, businesses, and individuals can upload short videos. Weile Jiaxiang Mahjong, the animated game channel, is the top WeChat video channel with 1,003.90 influence index points in 2021.

The influence index is measured by the content volume posted by a channel and the performance of the content, which includes the total number of likes, views, and reach of the trending content.

The animated game channel, Weile Jiaxiang Mahjong, is the most influential channel on WeChat, garnering a 1,003.90 influence index, followed by Monk Yichan with 991.80 points.

In 2021, the most influential official account on WeChat was “cctvyscji,” which belonged to the state-owned broadcaster China Central Television. It received a 1,022.50 influence index.

The content volume posted by a channel and the performance of the content, which includes the total number of likes, views, and reach of the trending content, are used to calculate the influence index.

According to WeChat Wiki, there are more than 20 million Official Accounts. WeChat Official Account owners agree that the app benefits them as it helps them save money by more than 30%.

CCTV-2 Finance (cctvyscj), Heilongjiang TV – Night News (yehang82898289), DXY (DingXiangYiSheng), and Hangzhou Transport Radio (hzfm918) are the most influential WeChat official accounts with more than 1000 influence index.

74.2% of WeChat Official Account users utilize the app to receive news and boost their company’s visibility.