Instagram is a photo and short video sharing social network. It was founded in 2010 by software engineer Michel Krieger and computer programmer and former Google-employee Kevin Systrom. The iOS release took place in October 2010, and the Android in April 2012.
The idea for Instagram came when Systrom was holidaying with his partner in Mexico in 2010. He and Krieger had a developed a multi-feature social platform called Burbn, focused on location sharing. He was contemplating adding photo sharing to the platform.
His partner, however, protested that the photos taken on her iPhone 4 were not of a standard to share. Systrom’s solution was to apply filters to the pictures, which quickly became Instagram’s key selling point.
It quickly became apparent that the best course would be to pare down Burbn, which had already attracted $500,000 in seed funding, to focus on this element. Thus, Instagram was born.
Within just shy of two years of operation, it was sold to Facebook for $1 billion. Systrom remained on as CEO until 2018, when Krieger (head of engineering) also left the company.
Instagram was a hit, rapidly gathering users to become one of the world’s biggest and most-influential social media platforms. By June 2018, the platform had hit 1 billion monthly active users.
Video sharing was added to the photo-sharing app in 2013, which mimicked the popular app Vine at the time. Instagram Stories launched in 2016, which allows users to upload a short series of photos, which are deleted after 24 hours.
The latter may have been pilfered from Snapchat, but in terms of sheer user numbers it soon left its rival in the dust. Stories alone boasted twice as many daily active users as its rival counts in total in 2018, with 500 million active users to the 239 million of Snapchat.
Instagram has played a central role in 21st century popular culture, with popular users dubbed ‘influencers’. Influencers have become a key demographic for Instagram, and the app has opened up its platform with shopping and other marketing tools to make these popular users more successful.
Instagram has received some criticism for its role in this growing industry, as photoshopped and fake images are used to sell products. However, Instagram has added filters and tags to ensure that photoshopped items and product placement is correctly identified.
We have collected data and statistics on Instagram. Read on below to find out more.
Instagram key statistics
- Instagram generated an estimated $24 billion revenue in 2020, which was 36.9% of Facebook’s total
- We estimate that Instagram has 1.41 billion users. It last updated its figure in 2018 at 1 billion
- Instagram’s biggest markets are India and the US, each at 140 million users
- Over 70% of Instagram users are under 35 years old
Instagram overview
| Launch date | 6 October 2010 |
| HQ | Menlo Park, California |
| People | Adam Mosseri (Head of Instagram), Kevin Systrom (co-founder), Mike Krieger (co-founder) |
| Business type | Subsidiary |
| Owner | |
| Industry | Social media |
Instagram revenue
Instagram annual revenue
| Year | Revenue |
| 2015 | $0.5 billion |
| 2016 | $1.8 billion |
| 2017 | $4.1 billion |
| 2018 | $10.3 billion |
| 2019 | $17.7 billion |
| 2020 | $24 billion |
Note: Facebook does not disclose Instagram revenue. All values are estimated
Source: Instagram Report
Percentage of Facebook revenue from Instagram
| Year | Percentage |
| 2015 | 3.3 |
| 2016 | 5.9 |
| 2017 | 9.2 |
| 2018 | 18.1 |
| 2019 | 33.9 |
| 2020 | 36.9 |
Source: Bloomberg, Facebook
Instagram users
Instagram annual users
| Year | Users |
| 2013 | 110 million |
| 2014 | 200 million |
| 2015 | 370 million |
| 2016 | 500 million |
| 2017 | 700 million |
| 2018 | 1 billion |
| 2019 | 1.1 billion |
| 2020 | 1.3 billion |
Note: Facebook updates Instagram MAU figures intermittently. Some values are estimated
Instagram users by country
| Country | Users |
| India | 140 million |
| United States | 140 million |
| Brazil | 99 million |
| Indonesia | 85 million |
| Russia | 56 million |
Source: Instagram Report
Instagram age demographics
| Age | Percentage of users |
| 13-17 | 7.3 |
| 18-24 | 29.8 |
| 25-34 | 33 |
| 35-44 | 16 |
| 45-54 | 8.1 |
| 55-64 | 3.8 |
| 65+ | 2.1 |
Sources: Hootsuite, WeAreSocial
Instagram gender demographics
| Gender | Percentage of users |
| Female | 50.8 |
| Male | 49.2 |
Note: Country specific age and gender demographics are available in the Instagram Report
Sources: Hootsuite, WeAreSocial
Instagram vs social apps: users
Want to learn more about social apps? Check out our Social App Report
Instagram FAQ
How many times has Instagram been downloaded?
Instagram has been downloaded approximately 3.8 billion times. It was the fourth most downloaded app in the 2010s
How many people use Instagram Stories?
There are 500 million daily active users, approximately 1/3 of Instagram’s total audience
Who is the most followed account on Instagram?
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed user on Instagram, with 347 million followers as of September 2021
What is the most followed brand on Instagram?
Instagram is the most followed brand at 424 million users, followed by National Geographic with 186 million
