Snapchat has taken some giant strides since its humble launch. Today, it is one of the most popular social media apps, offering something to everyone.
To find out more about how it got to be that way, you can check out these up-to-date Snapchat statistics. Here is a taste of what’s about to come.
Snap Those Snapchat Stats!
- There are 375 million daily active users.
- Snapchat generated $4.6 billion in revenue in 2022, a 12% increase year-on-year.
- 54.4% of all Snapchat users are female and 44.6% are male.
- Facebook and Google wanted to acquire Snapchat.
- Snapchat is ranked as the 2nd most popular social networking app in the US.
- About 6 in 10 Snapchatters visit the app daily.
- Users created 5+ billion snaps every day.
- 48% of users in the demographic 15-25 use the platform daily.
TechJury will look, among other things, at its history, as well as its demographic and usage data. We will also take a look at the financial side of managing this highly influential company.
General Stats and Facts
As is often the case with any self-respecting social media giant, Snapchat’s backstory is filled with interesting anecdotes.
1. On average there are 375 million daily active users.
(Source: Investor Relations)
Snapchat’s daily active user count reached 375 million worldwide in Q4 of 2022, which is an increase from the 363 million global DAU recorded in Q3 of the same year. The app has experienced consistent growth in daily active users since the start of 2019.
| Years in Quarters | Number of DAU in Millions |
| 2019 Q1 | 190 |
| 2019 Q2 | 203 |
| 2019 Q3 | 210 |
| 2019 Q4 | 218 |
| 2020 Q1 | 229 |
| 2020 Q2 | 238 |
| 2020 Q3 | 249 |
| 2020 Q4 | 265 |
| 2021 Q1 | 280 |
| 2021 Q2 | 293 |
| 2021 Q3 | 306 |
| 2021 Q4 | 319 |
| 2022 Q1 | 332 |
| 2022 Q2 | 347 |
| 2022 Q3 | 363 |
| 2022 Q4 | 375 |
2. Snapchat was created by three Stanford University Students.
(Source: Bloomberg)
Snapchat was created in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown while they were studying at Stanford University.
3. Snapchat founders failed 34 times.
(Source: EconoMaldives)
Success requires patience and persistence, and Snapchat’s founders know this better than most. They tasted failure 34 times before coming up with a winner.
4. Snapchat was initially called Picaboo and launched as an iOS-only app.
(Source: Techcrunch)
Today Snapchat users are in the millions, but the app’s launch was nothing special. Evan, Bobby, and Reggie submitted Picaboo as their group project at Stanford. Their reviewers were fellow students who didn’t find the idea of an app sending self-destructing photos exciting. The public thought otherwise and embraced the app wholeheartedly—the rest, as they say, is history.
5. Reggie Brown’s regret about sending a photograph led to the birth of Snapchat.
(Source: Forbes)
One of the most remarkable facts about Snapchat has to do with its genesis. Brown’s wish for an app that could send photos with a self-destruct timer led to the creation of Snapchat. Spiegel became the CEO and Murphy – CTO, while Brown took the role of chief marketing officer.
6. Snapchat paid Reggie Brown $157.5 million in a settlement.
(Source: Techcrunch)
Reggie Brown filed a lawsuit against Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy in 2013, alleging he was forced out of the company without compensation. In September 2014, Snapchat paid its third co-founder $157.5 million in cash to settle the lawsuit.
7. Brown came up with Snapchat’s “Ghostface Chillah” logo.
(Source: Forbes)
This is another one of those interesting Snapchat facts that many don’t know. Inspired by the Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan, Brown named Snapchat’s logo Ghostface Chillah. The logo represents the “now you see it, then you don’t” nature of this photo messaging service.
If you want to create a stunning logo yourself, there are dozens of awesome logo makers that can get the job done in minutes.
8. Facebook wanted to acquire Snapchat.
(Source: SearchEngineJournal)
Did you know that Mark Zuckerberg tried to buy Snapchat not once, but twice? In October 2013, the Facebook CEO offered $1 billion. Snapchat said, “No, thanks.” A month later Zuckerberg raised the offer to $3 billion – for a company where users “trade snapchats”! Still, Spiegel and Murphy showed faith and again refused to sell! When the company went public, the market valued the company at $28 billion, almost 10 times more than Zuckerberg’s offer!
9. Google tried to buy Snapchat, too.
(Source: Techcrunch)
It wasn’t only Facebook that wanted to acquire Snapchat. Google wanted to buy it as well. The world’s most popular search engine offered Snapchat $30 billion just before its IPO in 2016, but Evan Spiegel refused to sell.
10. Snapchat is losing the Stories war (if it has not already lost it).
(Source: Business Insider)
Snapchat invented the Stories format, which allows users to share snaps in chronological order. Instagram, having more than twice as many users, blatantly copied the format later and then made it more popular than ever.
11. Snap Inc.’s total number of employees in 2022 was 5,288, a 6.59% decline from 2021.
(Source: Wikipedia)
The company has a team of dedicated employees who work to ensure that the app remains user-friendly, reliable, and up-to-date with the latest trends and features.
The number of employees at Snapchat Inc. has fluctuated, with both increases and decreases at different times.
Annual worldwide Snapchat employee count from 2016 to 2022.
| Years | Number of Employees |
| 2016 | 1859 |
| 2017 | 3069 |
| 2018 | 2884 |
| 2019 | 3195 |
| 2020 | 3863 |
| 2021 | 5661 |
| 2022 | 5288 |
12. Snapchat offers an app called SnapKidz for under-13 users.
(Source: Mashable)
SnapKidz allows users under the age of 13 to take snaps, caption them, make drawings, and save snaps and drawings locally on the phone. However, it doesn’t support sharing snaps or adding friends.
Snapchat Financials
How big is Snapchat in terms of revenue? This section provides answers to questions related to Snapchat’s earnings.
13. Snapchat revenue increased by 12% in 2022 to $4.6 billion.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Snapchat generated a total of $4.9 billion in 2022 which is an increase from $2.5 billion in 2020.
Snapchat annual revenue 2015 to 2022 ($bn)
| Year | Revenue ($bn) |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 0.05 |
| 2016 | 0.4 |
| 2017 | 0.8 |
| 2018 | 1.1 |
| 2019 | 1.7 |
| 2020 | 2.5 |
| 2021 | 4.1 |
| 2022 | 4.6 |
14. Snapchat’s most prominent market was North America.
(Source: Business of Apps)
During Q4 of 2022, Snapchat recorded the highest average revenue per user (ARPU) in North America at 8.77 US dollars. For Europe, this figure stood at 2.38 USD per user, whereas for the rest of the world, it was 1.1 USD. Overall, Snapchat’s ARPU for Q4 2022 across the world rose to 3.47 USD, compared to the previous quarter’s 3.11 USD.
15. India had the biggest Snapchat user base in the world.
(Source: Statista)
The largest Snapchat user base in the world was recorded in India as of April 2022, with an audience of 144.35 million users, while the United States secured the second position with over 107 million users. It is anticipated that the photo-sharing platform will achieve a global user count of almost 400 million by 2024.
Leading countries based on Snapchat audience size
| Country | Size of Audience in Millions |
| India | 144.35 |
| United States | 107.95 |
| France | 24.7 |
| Pakistan | 22.25 |
| United Kingdom | 21.35 |
| Saudi Arabia | 20.45 |
| Mexico | 17.25 |
Snapchat User Statistics
Snapchat is one of the most popular social networking apps, but how often do users actually use it? Let’s find out.
16. About 6 in 10 Snapchatters visit the app daily.
(Source: Pew Research Center)
The latest Snapchat Statistics show 63% of its users in the US visit the platform daily and 51% access it multiple times a day.
17. Users Spend 21 minutes daily on Snapchat.
(Source: CNBC)
People who use Snapchat open the app 30 time a day. More than 4 Billion snaps are sent every day on the platform. A majority of Snapchat’s daily active users, 63%, use augmented reality (AR) filters.
18. Snapchatters send 2,083,333 snaps every minute.
(Source: Aryxe)
Snapchat videos get more than 10B daily views. Snapchat app is accessed by 56.4% of U.S. mobile audiences.
19. Over five billion – that’s how many snaps users created daily.
(Source: Investor)
Snapchat statistics show that every single day people create around 5 billion snaps in 2022. That is way more than 2017 data when there were approximately 3.5 billion photos and videos per day.
20. 93% of Snapchatters have shared pictures of their drinks.
(The Sun)
Snapchatters love sending photos of their drinks more than anything else.
21. Nearly 1 in 6 Snapchatters has received an inappropriate photo.
(Source: Piktochart)
No one likes to receive unsolicited nude photos. There are almost 100 million Snapchatters who have received such photos at least once. Unfortunately, Snapchat continues to look the other way.
22. The longest Snapchat Streak is 2794+ Snaps, up from 2089+ in 2021.
(Source: Suntrics)
Snapchat streaks are silly but a lot of fun. You get a Snapchat streak after you and your friend have each share one snap a day for at least three days.
As of May 2018, the highest streak was 1,154. That’s almost three years and two months! In 2021, that figure has doubled to nearly 2090, according to statistics about Snapchat.
23. Snapchat will reach 400 million users by 2024.
(Source: Statista)
Subscriptions on the photo-sharing app are growing YOY. That should come as no surprise given that it’s one of the fastest-growing social platforms, especially with the younger generation.
Snapchat Demographics
Popular as Snapchat is, not everyone appreciates it equally. It’s much popular within one particular age group. Which one is that? Have a look.
24. 75% of Snapchat users in the United States are between the 13 to 34 peer group.
(Source: Investor Relations)
The thing about Snapchat is that user as young as 13 are free to join. When evaluating the majority of subscribers age-wise, it has emerged that ¾ of them belong to the Generation Z and millennials age groups.
25.48% of users between 15-25 use the platform daily.
(Source: Pew Research Center)
Within the United States, the age group that dominates Snapchat is between 15 to 25 years old, as they account for 48% of its users. The group aged between 26 to 35 represents 30% of the user base, while the age ranges of 36 to 45, 46 to 55, and 56 and above comprise 18%, 11%, and 5% of the platform, respectively.
26. 75% of teenagers and young adults rank Snapchat as their favourite social networking app.
(Source: Statista)
Snapchat is the most popular app among teenagers and young adults, with Facebook – at 66% and Instagram – at 76%.
27. 54.4% of all Snapchat users are female and 44.6% are male.
(Source: Data Reportal)
In January 2023, slightly more than half (51%) of Snapchat’s user base comprised women, while just over 48% were men. During the first quarter of 2022, the photo and messaging app had 332 million daily active users globally.
Snapchat for Business
Given the high number of Snapchat users, marketers frequently use the platform to build brand awareness, increase social media presence, share exciting offers, and boost sales.
28. 64% of businesses leverage Snapchat.
(Source: Statista)
Snapchat has 265M daily active users and, as such, is a marketing goldmine for advertisers. Businesses can use Snapchat in multiple ways to promote their brand and increase sales – from using sponsored geo-filters and video content to leveraging influencers. Big brands that have used or are using Snapchat for promotional activities include Nike, Audi, and Cisco.
29. 38.6% of the total US digital population uses Snapchat.
(Source: Comscore)
Think Snapchat popularity is low and should be higher? Recent statistics prove it is actually enjoying a good deal of attention. The platform’s impressive reach and low ad prices make it a great marketing tool for advertisers.
30. 57% of all brand posts on Snapchat are video ads.
(Source: Statista)
When it comes to advertising on Snapchat, the majority of brands prefer to use video content—and perhaps rightly so. Videos tend to have a much wider organic reach compared to other types of content.
31. 20% of Snapchatters views Discover content daily.
(Source: Business Insider)
Users can view publisher content in the Discover section of the app. Recent Snapchat stats show 35 million people check publisher content daily. This indicates publishing video ads on Snapchat may help you gain a competitive advantage.
32. Three most viewed brands on Snapchat Discover are Buzzfeed, Comedy Central, and iHeart Radio.
(Source: Statista)
54% of Snapchatters regularly view Buzzfeed content via Discover. These figures for Comedy Central and iHeart Radio are 44% and 32%, respectively. Other popular brands on Snapchat are Food Network, ESPN, and People.
33. 224M Snapchat users viewed the Taco Bell lens ad.
(Source: Adweek)
Besides publishing video content in the Discover section, marketers can launch a sponsored filter campaign to spread brand awareness. That’s exactly what Taco Bell did—and with great success. With 224M impressions in a single day, it is the most viewed ad on Snapchat yet.
34. Snapchat had an operating margin of 61% as of December 2022.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Over the fiscal years ending from December 2018 to 2022, Snap’s average gross profit margin was 50.3%, and its median gross profit margin during this period was 52.8%. Looking back at the past five years, the highest gross profit margin for Snap was recorded in December 2022, which peaked at 61.0%.
Wrapping Up
When Snapchat was launched, teens and young adults embraced the app.
They apparently love it no less today, considering it’s the sixth most popular social networking app in the world.
No wonder then, Snapchat has also quickly evolved as a great marketing tool, giving marketers an opportunity to reach out to millions at once.
While Snapchat statistics are largely encouraging, there’s one piece of data that won’t please its well-wishers – the app is currently struggling to increase its users.
Can Evan Spiegel pull a rabbit out of his hat and take Snapchat to the next level?
Well, his target audience sure hopes so.
Sources
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Muninder Adavelli is a core team member and Digital Growth Strategist at Techjury. With a strong background in marketing and a deep understanding of technology's role in digital marketing, he brings immense value to the TechJury team.