WeChat is China’s largest social media platform and the 5th largest worldwide.
It has billions of users within and outside China, including the United States.
To shed more light on the platform, here are some interesting WeChat statistics.
Top 7 WeChat Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- WeChat had over 1.3 billion monthly users in 2022.
- There were 20 million WeChat Official Accounts for promoting content in 2022.
- WeChat is the 6th most used social media platform in 2023.
- An estimated 50.6% of internet users in China will use WeChat to purchase goods and services by 2024.
- WeChat Pay has 72 million registered businesses.
- WeChat works with more than 300 banks as of 2023.
- WeChat Work had 250 million users in 2022.
Infographic
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/wechat-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/top-wechat-statistics.png" alt="Top 7 WeChat Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="771.84" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/top-wechat-statistics-768x772.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/top-wechat-statistics-1019x1024.png 1019w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/top-wechat-statistics-150x150.png 150w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/top-wechat-statistics.png 1200w" sizes="auto"></a></p>
WeChat Usage and Audience Stats
1. WeChat offers various services, including Messaging, Video Calls, Moments, and Online Payments.
WeChat users can send messages, hold video calls, post on moments, create and get in touch with interest groups, make online payments, and even advertise on official company accounts.
2. WeChat had over 1.3 billion monthly users in 2022.
As of September 2022, WeChat had nearly 1.3 billion monthly users.
Most of these monthly users were from China.
3. Global WeChat users will increase by 24% between 2022 - 2028.
The number of WeChat users has been increasing steadily over the years, and projections estimate an additional 229 million users between 2022 and 2028.
4. WeChat Work had 250 million users in 2022.
WeChat Work, a branch of the main WeChat app, had over 250 million users as of December 2022. Likewise, over 2.5 million companies were served by the WeChat Work app in the same timeframe. This included 80% of the top 500 companies in China.
5. There were 20 million WeChat Official Accounts for promoting content in 2022.
72% of WeChat users follow at least one official account, primarily for news.
Another 41% follow official WeChat accounts to get real-time information on product and service promotions.
6. 58.9% of the Chinese population was on WeChat at the start of 2023.
There are over 827 million WeChat users in China as of January 2023, representing almost two-thirds of the entire Chinese population. Based on the growth trends observed since 2011, WeChat users are expected to hit nearly 865 million by 2025, roughly translating to 61.4% of the total population.
As of the start of 2023, WeChat was the 5th most-used social media platform globally, with over 1.2 billion users. Here is a table of the top 10 social media platforms by user numbers.
| PLATFORM | ACTIVE USERS (2023) |
|---|---|
| 2.74 billion | |
| YouTube | 2.291 billion |
| 2.0 billion | |
| Facebook Messenger | 1.3 billion |
| 1.221 billion | |
| 1.213 billion | |
| TikTok | 689 million |
| 617 million | |
| Douyin | 600 million |
| Sina Weibo | 511 million |
8. Over 50% of Chinese users spent an average of 2hrs a day on WeChat in 2021.
The July 2021 data also reports that about 1 in 4 (25%) Chinese users spent over four hours on the social messaging app daily.
9. An estimated 50.6% of internet users in China will use WeChat to purchase goods and services by 2024.
By 2024, over 50% of all internet users in China will have a China social network account like WeChat. In contrast, 44% of Chinese citizens with an internet connection already used such social network accounts in 2021.
10. The "Chuckle" emoji was one of the most used on WeChat.
As of 2022, other frequently-used emojis included Facepalm, Thumbs Up, Grin, and Rose.
11. WeChat is so popular that banned users send handwritten apologies.
Without a WeChat account, most people can not communicate with their loved ones or even purchase essential goods in some cities in China. This forces banned users to send handwritten apology letters to regain their accounts.
12. WeChat was used to enforce nationwide health codes during the COVID pandemic.
Red, orange, and green alerts were sent to WeChat users to monitor and manage the spread. It continues to be used in the same way today.
WeChat User Demographics
13. 22% of WeChat users in China were between 31 and 40 years old in 2022.
That was lesser than the more senior user demographic of 55+ years, scoring 22.7% of the social messaging service’s user base in the same period.
14. 98.5% of 50-80-year-old smartphone owners in China have a WeChat account.
The elderly in China outdo their counterparts in other countries regarding social media. The average old WeChat user has about 104 chat friends, with 23% of them being family members.
15. Male users dominated WeChat in Q3 2021.
The gender distribution on WeChat in Q3 2021 stood at 52.9% for males and 47.1% for females.
WeChat Business and Revenue Stats
16. Tencent Holdings own WeChat.
Tencent Holdings Ltd is the 13th most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of $462.96 billion as of February 2023. Besides WeChat, the company is also behind QQ.
17. WeChat had 3.5 million mini-programs with a combined revenue of $17.49 billion in 2021.
Additionally, the average WeChat user is subscribed to a minimum of 9 mini-programs, with 47% finding food delivery and e-commerce mini-programs the most valuable. The combined transactions from these mini-apps were over $17 billion in 2021.
18. 40% of WeChat users choose mini-programs to avoid downloading mobile apps.
Likewise, 47.4% of mini-program users spend up to 1000 RMB on products and services purchases.
19. WeChat Pay has 72 million registered businesses.
Over 34% of the owners agreed that the app had reduced operational costs by more than 30%.
20. McDonald’s was the largest WeChat Mini-Program in 2021.
As of August 2021, MacDonald’s WeChat Mini-Program had nearly 29 million active users in China, making it the most prominent service brand on the platform.
21. WeChat Pay was China's second-largest payment platform in 2022.
Alipay was the leading payment platform in mainland China with a 54% market share, followed by WeChat at 42%. UnionPay is the third largest but with only a 4% share of the large Chinese market.
<p><strong>Please include attribution to vpnAlert.com with this graphic.</strong><br><br><a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/wechat-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/china-payment-platforms.png" alt="Largest Payment Platforms in China" width="768" border="0" height="299.44119968429" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/china-payment-platforms-768x299.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/china-payment-platforms-300x117.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/china-payment-platforms-1024x399.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/china-payment-platforms.png 1267w" sizes="auto"></a></p>
22. WeChat works with more than 300 banks as of 2023.
On top of this, the platform is currently linked to more than 200 million bank cards in China alone and even supports foreign cards like VISA, JCB, and Mastercard.
23. WeChat was valued at $62.3 billion in 2022.
This was a $5.6 billion drop from the previous year when it was valued at $67.9 billion.
WeChat Regional Statistics
Even though it had a brand awareness reaching 37% in the region, only 8% of those who know about it use it. Furthermore, 2% of UK social media users said they would likely use WeChat again.
As of December 2022, only 2% of German social media users have used WeChat. However, it enjoys 100% loyalty in the region as 2% of social media users in Germany claim they will use WeChat again.
Wrapping Up
WeChat continues to grow, and it is only a matter of time before it eclipses the other social media platforms. I just got my account and will test it through the weekend to see what it has in store.
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- https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/number-of-wechat-users
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- https://distinguished.io/blog/wechat-statistics-net-worth
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- https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1304391/wechat-social-media-brand-profile-in-the-united-kingdom
- https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1097796/wechat-social-media-brand-profile-in-germany
- https://distinguished.io/blog/wechat-statistics-net-worth
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1324423/wechat-brand-value/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1287756/china-monthly-active-users-of-brand-mini-programs-on-wechat/
- https://companiesmarketcap.com/tencent/marketcap/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1287786/wechat-user-gender-distibution-worldwide/
- https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1144915/wechat-users-in-the-world
