

Updated · Jun 24, 2022
Updated · Jun 03, 2022
If you are ever headed over to China, you will surely come across WeChat. It is known as Weixin over there.
WeChat is a social media app that was launched back in 2011 by Tencent. It started out just in the same way as WhatsApp and Facebook did: offering messaging and networking features.
Since 2011, though, the platform has grown from strength to strength, introducing new features that have made it indispensable!
We’ve prepared some WeChat statistics to help you understand this phenomenon!
Let’s go!
Let's get this show on the road by understanding how massive WeChat actually is.
We’re going to kick off our WeChat stats with some user stats.
These are going to go through some of the WeChat usage stats by country. We’ll finally look at the number of active users on WeChat.
Ready?
(Source: Statista)
That figure has doubled since 2015.
In 2020, the app had around 1.2 billion monthly users. According to WeChat statistics, that has risen by about 400,000 in 2021.
The platform has continued to show consistent growth over the years. Going by the trend, it doesn’t look like it will slow down any time soon.
(Source: China Internet Watch)
WeChat user trends have changed so much over the years that users can build a huge contact list fairly quickly nowadays. WeChat continues to build on the quality it is offering, which allows users to be more connected than ever.
Other sites are seeing stagnation, so this is fab news for WeChat users (and WeChat as a business)!
(Source: Harvard Business Review)
WeChat usage has been growing by 25% a year for a few years now.
It’s probably about time people got off their messaging apps and started having conversations face to face. Still, for Tencent - which owns WeChat - this is excellent news.
The more messages are sent, the more revenue and publicity they receive. It’s only going to grow!
(Source: China Daily)
205 million video messages per day?!
Well, WeChat video usage stats show how much users enjoy sending video messages.
WeChat is known for making better use of the improved bandwidth, which makes for easier communication for its users.
(Source: The Telegraph)
Compared to the 41 minutes spent on Facebook, WeChat users spend more time on WeChat. It just goes to show that the WeChat popularity ranks are way up!
(Source: Apps That Deliver)
When it comes to engagement, WeChat ranks very highly. Over 60% of users open the app more than ten times a day. Another 21% use the app over 50 times a day.
Not bad of an engagement.
So, now we know what users like to do with WeChat. Let’s continue by exploring the audience that uses WeChat every day.
They come from different age groups and backgrounds, so look for the WeChat statistics of 2022 most relevant to you!
(Source: Technode, China Daily)
Unlike other social networking apps, the app is popular among senior users in China. WeChat usage trends show that it’s become an integral piece of the lifestyle in China. But did you also know that...
(Source: Luxion Media)
WeChat has several mini-programs and women are the predominant audience.
Not only that, but the mini-programs have helped brand giants like Gucci and Michael Kors - now there’s a name drop for the audience!
(Source: Statista, Data Reportal)
Collectively, there are 4.20 billion social media users.
WeChat users stats show that it has attracted a sizable piece of the pie with about 1.2 billion users.
It’s ahead of popular apps like Telegram, TikTok, and Snapchat. The top three websites in this category are Facebook (2.7 billion), YouTube (2.3 billion), and WhatsApp (2.00 billion).
WeChat popularity is growing year on year, and the following trends prove that!
(Source: WeChat Impact Report)
There is so much that can be done on WeChat.
But when it comes to both work and leisure, WeChat keeps a large share of the data traffic.
It uses more data than Facebook does in North America, and that in itself is a big deal!
(Source: EFF)
Do you remember former President Trump issuing executive orders to ban TikTok and WeChat in the US back in 2020?
Well, that didn’t work.
Today, the app is doing better than ever. It has 19 million users in the United States, according to WeChat stats. Users are primarily Chinese diaspora who rely on the application to communicate with their loved ones back home.
(Source: SimilarWeb)
WeChat user stats show China generates 24.28% of WeChat traffic. This is much more than the 15.8% that is generated from the US!
That’s a lot of other countries to take note of here. And while it’s important where the traffic is coming from, the distribution by age groups is also significant. For example, did you know that...
(Source: Statista)
The main findings have shown that the 18-24 age group is the highest among those who have adopted WeChat in the US. The numbers change with age and decrease progressively.
In the UK, the highest use comes from the 25-34 age group.
(Source: Statista)
In the US, there is a big difference between the share of male and female users on WeChat. While 17% of US men use WeChat, only 6% of women do so.
Money, money, money! It’s all about revenue for a lot of companies.
But.
WeChat is about the community too.
Let’s a look at the WeChat revenue statistics and see how they relate to the community:
(Source: Technode)
It’s always nice when a company cares about those in need.
WeChat is clearly about more than consumption. WeChat pay statistics show that users are often donating to charity using the platform.
Back in 2015, this figure was around the 20% mark. It was doubled by 2017.
Imagine what it would be like by the end of 2022.
(Source: WeChat Impact Report 2018)
The social impact of WeChat is huge, with $50 billion driven in domestic consumption. WeChat also helped in the employment of 20.3 million in 2017 alone!
The more money WeChat earns, the more it can help cut costs.
How would that affect WeChat’s marketing statistics, in your opinion?
(Source: Technode)
WeChat Official Accounts are beneficial to the enterprise owners who run them. There’s a reduction in operational costs, and 32% of businesses have sold products via these accounts.
40% of businesses have used them to buy services from others.
Isn’t that a great way to use WeChat?
(Source: Technode)
There are so many different ways to pay via mobile: Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, and Android Pay are just three. WeChat’s advertising statistics also benefit from that, by the way.
Anyway, China remains a global leader when it comes to the adoption rates of contactless mobile payment. Speaking of WeChat Pay...
(Source: Penguin Intelligence, Technode)
As a digital wallet service, WeChat Pay has had a remarkable breakthrough in the urban market. Almost 45% of users prefer to use WeChat Pay over carrying cash!
WeChat is not just for general consumers, but for businesses too. Most people in the workplace use WeChat and use it successfully.
It’s no wonder it’s competing against Apple Pay and the other big players!
Let’s look at some stats in this area:
(Source: South China Morning Post)
As the user base is growing, more features than ever are there to enable work-related tasks. WeChat can blur the line between personal and professional with ease.
20,000 users were surveyed, and almost 90% of them named WeChat as a top choice for their daily communication. For example, when it comes to email...
(Source: Statista)
Nearly 90% of companies that partner with Tencent and use WeChat do so to reach their employees. Most of these profiles belong to American companies operating in China.
That’s not all.
77.6% of them use it to market to Chinese consumers. A further 76.8% uses WeChat to liaise with the country’s government officials.
(Source: MarketingToChina)
Email may not be as big in China as other methods of communication, but 70% of users in China use WeChat instead - and that’s a big deal!
The platform helps them organize work and read the professional information that counts in their business.
It’s even been used as a way for people to generate new business leads!
Now.
We’ve covered the important stats. Time to have some fun:
WeChat statistics can be fun, too! For example, did you know that...
(Source: Statista)
74.2% of WeChat Official Account users use it to get news and promote their business. Entrepreneurs and businesses use WeChat to earn money, and the Official Accounts are a great way to do it.
(Source: Forbes)
This may surprise some out there, but Chinese hospitals are well known for being inefficient. However, with the rise of technology, health institutions in China have caught on. Over 40% of them are now using WeChat in some way or form.
This includes updating patients with news and sharing doctor information. It also means patients can book appointments online, pay bills, and pay registration fees using the platform! It’s a great way to use technology, it makes the WeChat stock price shoot up, and it helps people too!
A lot of social networking sites face a slowdown at some point, as is the natural way of things.
As it is apparent from these WeChat stats, the app’s popularity is growing daily. Sure, it may only be Chinese users that currently use it, but that’s just for now!
WeChat is constantly updating to offer new ways for people to engage and the service is starting to get into other markets. It’s becoming a threat (the good kind) to other players in the social media networking market.
Would you use WeChat?
Deyan G.
Techjury.net's manager. Deyan has been fascinated by technology his whole life. From the first Tetris game all the way to Falcon Heavy. Working for TechJury is like a dream come true, combining both his passions – writing and technology. In his free time (which is pretty scarce, thanks to his three kids), Deyan enjoys traveling and exploring new places. Always with a few chargers and a couple of gadgets in the backpack. He makes mean dizzying Island Paradise cocktails too.
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