32 Latest Instagram Statistics For 2023: The Definitive List
What is the state of Instagram?
In this post, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the latest Instagram statistics, facts, and trends that you need to know.
We’ll also be:
- Finding out more about Instagram users and the ways in which they interact with the platform.
- Learning why Instagram is a fantastic platform for marketers.
- Sharing some engagement tips and benchmarks to help inform your strategy.
- And much more!
Ready? Let’s get started:
Editor’s top picks – Instagram statistics
These are our most interesting statistics about Instagram:
- Around 1.4 billion people use Instagram. (Source: Statista1)
- 90% of Instagram users follow a business. (Source: Instagram for Business1)
- 44% of businesses have used Stories to promote products or services. (Source: Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report)
Instagram user statistics
First, let’s look at some Instagram user statistics that show just how popular Instagram is and tell us more about the platform’s user base.
1. Around 1.4 billion people use Instagram
This is the number of active monthly users on the platform and makes Instagram the fourth most popular social media platform on the planet. The only platforms with more users are Facebook (2.8 billion users), YouTube (2.3 billion users), and WhatsApp (2 billion users).
Interestingly, this means Instagram has actually climbed up the ranking table by two places in the last 2 years. Back in 2019, it had just 1 billion users and ranked sixth place. Since then, it’s increased its user base by almost 400 million and has overtaken both Facebook Messenger and WeChat.
Source: Statista1
2. Instagram is the fifth most visited site in the world
Instagram comes in at position 5 in Similarweb’s global rankings of websites based on their total monthly traffic. It gets around 6.6 billion visits per month, which works out at a little over 6 visits per active monthly user every month.
The only websites with more monthly visitors are Google, YouTube, Facebook, and rival social platform Twitter.
Source: Similarweb
3. There are more Instagram users in India than in any other country
There are 180 million Indian Instagram users, to be exact. This isn’t all that surprising given that India is the second-most populous country on earth, with nearly 1.4 billion citizens.
However, what’s interesting about this statistic is that in 2019, India was actually only second in the list of the top countries for Instagram usage. Back then, there were only 73 million Instagram users in India.
In just a couple of years’ time, the number of Indians using Instagram almost doubled, propelling the country to the number one spot.
Source: Statista2
4. There are 170 million Instagram users in the US
This makes the US the second top country by Instagram audience size. Again, Instagram’s audience share in the US has increased dramatically over the last couple of years, jumping up by 54 million between 2019 and 2021.
This shows that while Instagram isn’t exactly an ‘exciting new’ social platform, its user base isn’t yet in decline – it’s still growing rapidly.
Source: Statista2
5. 31.4% of Instagram users in the US are aged between 25 and 34
This is the largest Instagram user group when segmented by age. The second-largest group was 18 to 24-year-olds, who make up 25.7% of the total user base. This means that in total, more than half of all Instagram users are under 34 years old.
For marketers, the takeaway from this is clear: if you’re targeting a younger demographic, Instagram could be a great marketing channel.
Source: Statista5
6. Almost 58% of US Instagram users are female
Instagram (alongside Pinterest and Snapchat) is one of the few social media platforms that seem to be favored by female users. The platform has an uneven gender distribution, with women accounting for 57.9% of Instagram users in the US.
In contrast, rival social platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit all have more male users than female users.
Source: Statista6
Instagram marketing & business statistics
Planning on promoting or advertising your business on Instagram? Check out these Instagram statistics for marketers.
7. Influencer marketing on Instagram grew by nearly 50% in 2019
Influencer marketing has been gaining momentum for several years, but it really hit its stride back in 2019. That year, the number of marketers working with influencers on Instagram grew by nearly 50%.
Instagram is a particularly popular platform for influencer marketing as the visual nature of the platform makes it easy for creators to showcase products through photos and videos in their feeds and Stories.
Source: Social Media Today
Related Reading: 34 Latest Influencer Marketing Statistics & Benchmarks.
8. 90% of Instagram users follow a business
Unlike many other social platforms, Instagram users aren’t hesitant to follow businesses. In fact, the vast majority of users follow at least one brand.
This shows that you don’t necessarily have to partner with influencers to reach large audiences on the platform. If you create great content and have a solid social media marketing strategy in place, you can easily grow your own business account’s followers organically.
Source: Instagram for Business1
9. 81% of people say they use Instagram to research products and services
In a survey conducted by Facebook, Inc., the vast majority of respondents said that Instagram helps them to research products and services. 80% also said they use Instagram to decide if they should make a purchase.
This research process might involve visiting a brand’s Instagram account and reading comments to see what other customers are saying about them, or messaging them to ask a question about a product or service.
Source: Instagram for Business2
10. 83% of people say Instagram helps them to discover new products/services
Instagram users don’t just use the platform to research products and services they’re already interested in – they also use it as a discovery channel to find new products.
Showcasing your products to your target buyers through paid ads and sponsored posts can help you to take advantage of this and generate more leads and sales.
Source: Instagram for Business2
11. 50% say they’re more interested in a brand when they see it featured in ads on Instagram
As this stat shows, Instagram isn’t just useful for direct response marketing goals, it can also be a great way to raise brand awareness and sentiment.
Half of all users on the platform report being more interested in plans they’ve seen in Instagram ads. Even if they don’t click through initially, the uptick in brand awareness ads bring can have a positive impact over the long term.
Source: Instagram for Business1
12. Two-thirds of people say Instagram enables brand interaction
According to this statistic published by Instagram, the platform does a great job of bridging the gap between brands and consumers. Between DM’s and comments on various posts formats, Instagram makes it easy for users to interact with brands and over ⅔ of users agree.
Source: Instagram for Business1)
13. Nano-influencers generate the best engagement rates
Those with 1-5k followers generate an average engagement rate of 5.6%. This rate decreases the more followers you have. Micro-influencers (5-20k followers) generate only 2.43% and celebrity-level influencers with over 1m followers just 1.97%.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
14. 29% of marketers report that Photo ads on Instagram were the most effective ad format on the platform
Instagram is a platform focused on visual content, so it’s not surprising that photo-based ads are still the best performing. Whether you’re posting to your regular feed, or as a story, you can’t go wrong with a photo-based ad.
Source: Statista7
Instagram engagement statistics
How many likes, comments, and shares does the average Instagram post get? What kind of posts generate the highest engagement figures? And what hashtags should you be using? Here are some Instagram statistics that answer all those questions and more!
15. The average Instagram post receives almost 15k likes
Based on Hubspot’s analysis of over 80 million posts, the average number of likes an Instagram post generates is 14869.1.
That might seem like a crazy amount if you’re used to seeing less than 100 likes per post – and it is. The analysis took into account a huge number of posts, including those by super influential public figures that generate millions of likes per post, and this skews the results. Most creators and brands won’t see anywhere near that number of likes.
The median number of likes is a lot less and is close to 3600, which is probably a much more realistic benchmark to aim for.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
16… and around 285 comments
Posts typically generate many more likes than comments, and this stat shows it. The average number of comments is just 285, which is less than 2% of the average number of likes.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report)
17. Single image posts on Instagram generate more likes than permanent video posts
27.55% more likes, to be exact. They also generate 13.55% more likes than carousel posts, which include more than one image in the post. This is according to Hubspot’s latest Instagram Engagement Report.
According to the report, this is a recent trend, and videos posted onto creators’ permanent feed used to perform better. However, as new video formats like Stories and Reels have become available, single-image posts have become more popular when it comes to likes than permanent videos or carousel feed posts on average.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
18. The average Instagram post uses 10.7 hashtags
It’s quite common to see posts with a ton of hashtags on Instagram, as this is one way that creators can help their posts reach new audiences.
However, the jury’s still out on whether this is the best hashtag strategy to follow and 50% of posts contain less than 6 hashtags. Analysis has found that engagement on posts decreases after 6 or more hashtags are included.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
19. Over half of all Instagram accounts have under 1,000 followers
There is quite a divide between mega-influencers and regular users on Instagram, which makes it a great choice for influencers marketing campaigns.
According to Hubspot, 52.35% of Instagram accounts have less than 1000 followers, meaning that they are likely just average users that are using the platform for socializing and keeping up with brands and celebrity culture.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
20. Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed Instagram star in 2021
If you didn’t hear about Cristiano Ronaldo’s big move to Manchester United this summer, then you must have been living under a rock, or you don’t have Instagram.
The hype around the footballer’s transfer skyrocketed his follower count even further and made him the most followed person on Instagram. At the time of writing, the footballer’s account has 344 million followers.
Source: Statista4
21. #Love was the most used hashtag in 2020
Other hashtags that made the top 20 included #photography, #Instagood, and #fashion. Just remember that being more popular doesn’t necessarily mean being more engaging. In fact, the most popular hashtags don’t make the top 20 list when it comes to engagement.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report)
22. #Tbt was the most engaging hashtag in 2020
Posts that included the #tbt hashtag generated the highest number of comments and likes, on average. TBT stands for Throwback Thursday, and posts using the hashtag often include cute pictures of celebrities as babies or pictures with their exes, and this tends to drive a lot of engagement.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
23. Posts that tag a location generate 79% more engagement
If you didn’t already know, location tagging is a feature that allows users to add a geotag to their post. Once you do this, the post can potentially show up when a user searches for the location name. As such, it’s a fantastic tool for local businesses.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
24. Los Angeles, California is the most tagged location in the world
Yep, the City of Angels is the most geotagged city on Instagram. In fact, people seem to love to brag about their trips to major cities on Insta. New York came in as the second most tagged location, London came third, and Paris came fourth.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
25. Longer captions generate better engagement rates
If you want to boost engagement, don’t be afraid to add some detail in your captions. Hubspot found that posts with 1001 – 2000 characters generated over twice as many engagements compared to those with under 100 characters.
On the whole, engagement generally seems to correlate strongly with the number of characters in captions. Bear in mind though – 2,200 is the maximum number of characters you can include.
Source: Hubspot Instagram engagement report
Instagram Stories statistics
Instagram Stories is a feature that allows users to share photos and videos to their ‘Story’, rather than their feed. Followers can then view these Stories for 24 hours (after which they disappear) by clicking the creators’ profile picture at the top of the app.
Here are some Instagram statistics that reveal more about using Stories for both personal and business purposes.
26. Approximately 500 million people use Instagram Stories daily
Stories were an add-on to the original platform, but they soon became an integral part. Some users even update their Stories more regularly than they do feed posts. According to Statista, around 500 million people use the Stories function on a daily basis.
Source: Statista3
27. 58% of Instagram users watch personal Stories more than once a day
Instagram Stories can be posted anytime, anywhere, and they expire after 24 hours. According to Hubspot, most users will check for new Stories more than once a day.
Therefore, if you’re using Stories as part of your marketing strategy, then it’s a good idea to post regularly throughout the day, rather than at one specified time each day. This will give your followers something new to engage with every time they check their unwatched Stories.
Source: Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report
28.19% of users watch Instagram Stories in full
With so many accounts to follow on Instagram, keeping up to date with everybody’s Stories can be difficult. For that reason, only a small percentage of users actually watch Stories from beginning to end – 19% to be exact.
For business, this can be problematic, but the key is to create engaging content and keep your stories short and sweet so that users are more likely to watch the whole thing.
Source: Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report
29. 44% of businesses have used Stories to promote products or services
Instagram is a well-known platform in the marketing world, and it’s the first choice for many businesses that are keen to take advantage of its various features and ad formats.
As well as using regular posts to promote products or services, Hubspot found that almost half of the businesses surveyed had also used Stories for this purpose.
Source: Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report
30. 22% of Instagram users watch branded Stories more than once a week
Although users seem to favor personal Instagram Stories over branded ones, they still actively view branded Stories on a regular basis. According to Hubspot, 22% of Instagram users view branded Stories at least once each week.
Source: Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report
31. 67% of users have swiped up on branded Stories
Swiping up is the action users must take in order to be directed to the in-ad link. This can be anything from a shopping page or landing page to a website or YouTube video. The swipe-up feature is great for businesses and users seem to like it too.
According to the Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report, almost 70% of the users that responded to the survey have used the feature when interacting with branded Stories.
Source: Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report
32. 37% of users have interacted with a branded Story by liking, commenting, or sharing
Engagement is key when it comes to marketing on Instagram, or anything other social media platform for that matter. For businesses, Stories seem to be an effective way of driving engagement.
According to the Hubspot report, 37% of users have engaged with a branded Story by liking commenting, or sharing, at least once.
Source: Hubspot Instagram Engagement Report
Infographic: 21 Instagram statistics & facts
We’ve condensed these Instagram statistics into an infographic that you can publish on your blog.
Note: If you’d like to republish this infographic, save the infographic to your computer, upload to your blog and include a credit link back to this post.
Instagram statistics sources
Final thoughts
Instagram is an extremely useful platform for marketers, and it’s also great fun for the average user too. Hopefully, these 34 Instagram stats helped you to learn more about Instagram and all it has to offer.
If you’re keen to swat up on your social media knowledge, be sure to check out some of our other statistics posts. I’d personally recommend our articles on Twitter stats, Facebook stats, and LinkedIn stats.
Further reading:
- 7 Ways To Use Instagram Stories To Outsmart The Instagram Algorithm
- The Best Instagram Analytics Tools To Make Reporting Easy
- The Latest Smartphone Statistics Marketers Should Know
- 14 Powerful Instagram Tools To Boost Your Social Media Presence
- The Best Social Media Scheduling Tools To Save You Hours Each Week
- 9 Powerful Link In Bio Tools For Instagram
- 30+ Instagram Tips To Grow Your Audience & Save Time
