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X (Twitter) Statistics: How Many People Use X?

Brian Dean

Written by Brian Dean

Twitter Usage and Growth Statistics: How Many People Use Twitter in 2021?

The first tweet was sent by Jack Dorsey (Twitter’s CEO) on March 21, 2006. It took 3 years, 2 months and 1 day to reach the milestone of having one billion total tweets on the platform.

Twitter went public in November 2013. At that time, Twitter had around 200 million users.

Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion to take it private. Since then, a lot of changes followed, including rebranding to X.

Today, X/Twitter is among the top 6 social networking apps in the United States. And boasts over 500 million users worldwide.

You’ll find out the latest information on X/Twitter demographics and usage data on this page.

Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll learn below:

Important Twitter Statistics

  • X/Twitter currently has over 500 million monthly active users in 2024
  • More than 200 million daily users worldwide access X/Twitter daily
  • Twitter is most popular among users aged 25-34
  • X/Twitter reaches 12.6% of internet users worldwide
  • Worldwide, men use X/Twitter more than women
  • Annual X/Twitter advertising revenue hit $2.98 billion in 2023
  • 1,000 employees work at X/Twitter

Twitter Monthly Active Users

Information in this section provides an overview of Twitter’s overall user base.

  • According to X/Twitter owner (Elon Musk), Twitter had 600 million monthly active users across the world in May 2024.
  • According to an announcement by X/Twitter CEO (Linda Yaccarino), X/Twitter has over 500 million monthly active users worldwide.
    X/Twitter has over 500 million monthly active users worldwide
  • According to estimates, X/Twitter has over 368 million monthly active users worldwide.
  • In the US alone, X/Twitter has more than 50.5 million monthly active users.

Sources: Statista, eMarketer, TechCrunch, X/Twitter 1, X/Twitter 2

Twitter Daily Active Users

Daily active users (DAUs) indicate the number of unique visitors Twitter receives on a 24-hour basis. Twitter discloses the monetizable daily active usage (mDAU), which is defined as a number of logged accounts that were identified by Twitter and were able to show ads.

Since Twitter’s acquisition by Elon Musk, there have been irregular updates on Twitter usage as the company is no longer public and no longer shares regular usage metrics with the public.

  • According to the latest data, X/Twitter has 245 million daily active users worldwide.
    X/Twitter has 245 million daily active users worldwide
  • X/Twitter as a private company claims to have “200 to 250 million” daily active users across the world.
  • According to Apptopia analysis, X/Twitter is estimated to have around 121 million daily active users, significantly lower compared to company announcements.

Sources: Mashable, Industry Dive

Twitter User Growth

As a public company, Twitter has regularly shared a number of monetizable daily active Twitter users worldwide. But since the acquisition and uncertainty around X/Twitter usage, we have limited recent data.

Twitter User Growth

Here are some major growth milestones of Twitter’s user base since 2017:

Note: Since October 2022, daily active user count is shared as a private company and is based on public announcements by X/Twitter leadership.
Date Daily active users worldwide
Q1 2017 109 million
Q2 2017 110 million
Q3 2017 114 million
Q4 2017 115 million
Q1 2018 120 million
Q2 2018 122 million
Q3 2018 124 million
Q4 2018 126 million
Q1 2019 134 million
Q2 2019 139 million
Q3 2019 145 million
Q4 2019 152 million
Q1 2020 166 million
Q2 2020 186 million
Q3 2020 187 million
Q4 2020 192 million
Q1 2021 199 million
Q2 2021 206 million
Q3 2021 211 million
Q4 2021 217 million
Q1 2012 229 million
Q2 2012 237.8 million
October 2022* 257.8 million
November 2022* 259.4 million
September 2023* 225 million (revised – 245 million)

Sources: Statista, X/Twitter, Mashable

As of October 2023, X/Twitter is ranked as the 12th most popular social networking worldwide (ranked by potential ad reach).

Most Used Social Media Platforms Worldwide

To put that in perspective, Twitter reaches 12.6% of internet users worldwide.

Note: Source data contains significant anomalies.
Network Active users (MM)
Facebook 3030
YouTube 2491
WhatsApp 2000
Instagram 2000
WeChat 1327
TikTok 1218
FB Messenger 1036
Telegram 800
Snapchat 750
Douyin 743
Kuaishou 673
X (Twitter) 666
Sina Weibo 599
QQ 571
Pinterest 465

Source: DataReportal

Twitter Users by Country

Since Twitter originally launched in the US, the largest number of users also happens to be from their country of origin. However, Twitter is quickly penetrating international markets. In fact, a good chunk of Twitter’s recent growth is happening outside of the US.

Asia, Japan, India, and Indonesia are leading the way with the largest number of Twitter. Combined, they’re already bigger than Twitter’s entire US audience.

Twitter Users by Country

In total, there are 12 countries with an X/Twitter user base of over 15 million in each, including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, France, and Germany.

Here’s the breakdown of the top fifteen countries that use X/Twitter the most:

Note: Source data contains significant anomalies.
Country Users
United States 108.55 million
Japan 74.1 million
India 30.3 million
Indonesia 27.05 million
United Kingdom 24.3 million
Brazil 21.14 million
Turkey 22.75 million
Mexico 19.6 million
Saudi Arabia 17.9 million
Thailand 16.2 million
France 16.1 million
Germany 15.55 million
Spain 12.85 million
Philippines 12.2 million
Canada 11.8 million

Source: DataReportal

With over 500 million users, it’s not easy to amass a massive following on the platform.

Yet, certain political leaders, celebrities, entrepreneurs, and brands have amassed a following of over 50 million.

Most Popular Twitter Accounts

Here is the current list of the top 20 X/Twitter accounts with the most followers:

Profile Followers
Elon Musk 166.43 million
Barack Obama 131.96 million
Justin Bieber 111.5 million
Christian Ronaldo 110.43 million
Rihanna 108.48 million
Katy Perry 106.98 million
Taylor Swift 94.95 million
Narendra Modi 93.87 million
Donald Trump 87.44 million
Ariana Grande 85.27 million
Lady Gaga 83.79 million
Youtube 79.68 million
NASA 78.43 million
Kim Kardashian 75.22 million
Ellen DeGeneres 74.89 million
X (Twitter) 67.33 million
Selena Gomez 66.58 million
Bill Gates 63.43 million
CNN Breaking News 63.94 million
Neymar Júnior 63.1 million

Source: Social Blade

Twitter User Demographics

Gender Demographics

61.2% of X/Twitter users are male. 38.8% are female.

61.2% of X/Twitter users are male

As the data shows, X/Twitter users are predominantly men. While other social networking sites such as Instagram or LinkedIn report more equal distribution, with 49.7% and 43.4% share of female users, respectively.

Source: DataReportal

Age Demographics

Twitter’s audience is dominated by younger users. In fact, 58.38% of users are between 18 and 34 years old.

58.38% of X/Twitter users are between 18 and 34 years old

Here’s the complete breakdown of X/Twitter users by age group:

Age group Share
18-24 28.8%
25-34 29.58%
35-44 17.88%
45-54 11.47%
55-64 7.54%
65+ 4.83%

Source: Similarweb

Why People Use Twitter

X/Twitter is predominantly used for getting the news. Other commonly reported activities on the platform include researching brands, looking for entertaining content.

Here’s the complete list of commonly reported activities on Twitter among users aged 16-64 worldwide:

Activity Share of respondents
Keep up to date with news and current events 60.6%
Follow or research brands and products 34.9%
Look for funny or entertaining content 34.8%
Post or share photos or videos 27%
Message friends and family 19.2%

Source: DataReportal

Time Spent on Twitter per Day

According to the company announcement, the average X/Twitter user spends 32 minutes per day on the platform.

The average X/Twitter user spends 32 minutes per day on the platform

According to eMarketer estimates, the average user aged 18+ in the US spends 34.1 minutes per day on X/Twitter.

Sources: X/Twitter, eMarketer

Twitter by the Money

During the first round of funding in 2007, Twitter was valued at $220,000. Over the next few years, it showed an exponential growth in valuation, reaching $9.25 billion in mid 2011.

During Twitter’s IPO in 2013, it valued itself at $14.2 billion. As a public company, Twitter had an all-time high market cap of $61.5 billion in February 2021.
Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022.

X/Twitter is currently valued at $19 billion in a new employee stock plan.

X/Twitter revenue is made of advertising revenue and subscription fees.

Sources: Pitchbook, CNN, CompaniesMarketCap, The New York Times, Fortune

Twitter Revenue by Year

In 2023, the company brought in an estimated $2.98 billion in advertising revenue, a 28% decrease compared to 2022.

Year Advertising revenue
2021 4.46 billion
2022 4.14 billion
2023 2.98 billion

Twitter registered $5.01 billion in annual revenue as a public company in 2021.

Twitter Revenue by Year

Here’s a full year-by-year breakdown of Twitter’s revenue:

Year Revenue
2010 28 million
2011 106 million
2012 317 million
2013 665 million
2014 1.4 billion
2015 2.22 billion
2016 2.53 billion
2017 2.44 billion
2018 3.04 billion
2019 3.5 billion
2020 3.71 billion
2021 5.08 billion

Sources: eMarketer, Macrotrends

How Many Employees Does Twitter Have?

X/Twitter currently has around 1,000 full-time employees.

X/Twitter currently has around 1,000 full-time employees

Before Elon Musk Twitter’s acquisition, the company had 7,500 employees in December 2021.

According to PayScale, employees have an average base salary of $117,000. Employees on an H1B visa (employment-based worker visa) received a median salary of $220,000 in 2023.

Sources: Business Insider, Statista, Payscale, H1B Salary Database

Conclusion

That’s it for my X/Twitter user base statistics.

Hopefully, the facts and figures listed here helped expand your knowledge about X/Twitter. Much of the data here was spread all over the internet across several different sources. I’ve done my best to provide you with a roundup of stats related to Twitter users in one place.

Now I’m curious to hear from you:

Any questions or thoughts on this list of Twitter stats? Or what else would you like to see in this stats roundup?

Either way, please go ahead and leave a comment below.

2 Comments

  1. Karina Luz Bocanegra Salcedo Avatar Karina Luz Bocanegra Salcedosays:

    do you recommend twitter ads?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Karina, I’ve only used them as sort of an experiment. The results were pretty good actually.

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