Facebook Messenger has cemented itself as one of the most widely used mobile messaging apps globally. With over 1.3 billion monthly active users as of 2023, Messenger provides businesses and marketers access to a huge engaged audience.
In this up-to-date blog post, we‘ll uncover the latest Facebook Messenger statistics related to its massive user base, growth trends, revenue potential and future innovations.
Messenger Keeps Adding Millions of New Users Quarterly
Messenger first hit the one billion monthly active user (MAU) mark back in 2016. And the user base has continued rapid growth ever since:
- As of Q1 2023, Messenger has 1.3 billion global MAUs (Source: Facebook)
- This makes Messenger the 5th largest social media platform, behind Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok
- Messenger has added over 100 million new users in the last eight quarters alone (Source: Backlinko)
- Roughly 500,000 new people sign up to use Messenger daily (Source: SocialMediaToday)
Driving these new users is Messenger‘s intuitive interface, seamless integration with Facebook‘s family of apps, and the worldwide rise of mobile messaging — especially amongst younger demographics.
And with new features like message reactions, chat themes, collaborative video viewing via Watch Together and more, first-time Messenger sign-ups show no signs of slowing in 2024.
Who‘s Using Messenger in 2024: A Demographic Deep Dive
Given Messenger‘s broad global adoption, the platform boasts an extremely diverse user base. But examining some key demographics provides insight on Messenger‘s strongest current audiences:
Messenger Skews Male, Particularly 18-34 Year Olds
- Over 56% of Messenger‘s MAUs are male (Source: DataReportal)
- The highest percentage of users – 24% – are aged 25-34 (Source: Statista)
- 18-24 year olds represent another 16% share of Messenger‘s audience
- This youthful skew likely fuels Messenger‘s viral growth, as younger users drive platform adoption
- Comparatively, only 7.4% of Messenger MAUs are 55+ (Source: Statista)
So while assumptions exist of Facebook becoming more of a "boomer platform", Messenger counters that narrative — outpacing Facebook itself in crucial youth demos.
Preteens Sign Up in Droves for Messenger Kids
Of course, Facebook doesn‘t allow children under age 13 to sign up for its core apps. But Messenger Kids provides a safe environment for preteens to connect:
- Over 7 million preteens actively use Messenger Kids each month (Source: The Wall Street Journal)
- Launched in 2017, Messenger Kids adoption has surged over 200% in two years (Source: BusinessofApps)
Messenger Kids allows parent oversight of contacts and conversations for enhanced safety. And the app‘s growth signals that the next generation is already accustomed to messaging daily — potentially via Messenger itself in their teenage years.
Where Messenger Sees Its Highest Adoption
In terms of sheer user volumes by region, Messenger has hit critical mass adoption levels across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and beyond:
- Messenger sees over 80% smartphone user penetration in the United States & Canada (Source: Datanyze)
- Across iPhone owners specifically, over 90% have Messenger installed in Australia, France and UK (Source: SimilarWeb)
- Android adoption climbs even higher in most regions, led by 95%+ rates across Scandinavia
- The Middle East, South America and South East Asia also boast usage rates exceeding 85%
This positions Messenger as a uniquely global advertising platform — allowing brands to engage users virtually anywhere.
Messenger Conversation Metrics Keep Climbing
Beyond sheer user growth, how people actually use Messenger showcases the platform‘s invaluable daily utility as a messaging app.
Key Messenger engagement statistics for 2024 include:
- Over 100 billion messages sent daily across Facebook‘s entire family of apps, with many happening on Messenger (Source: Facebook)
- 7 billion+ conversations take place on Messenger itself every day (Source: SocialMediaToday)
- Roughly 2.5 million group conversations initiated on Messenger daily (Source: SocialMediaToday)
- 150 million+ video calls made each day on Messenger alone (Source: Facebook)
So people rely on Messenger not just for texting friends but also for vital video calls helping users stay connected. And usage continues trending higher throughout 2023.
For example, daily video calling minutes across Messenger and WhatsApp grew over 50% year-over-year as of Q3 2022 (Source: Facebook).
Exciting new features like message reactions, quick replies, ephemeral messaging and enhanced visual chat options have also helped drive more conversations than ever before on Messenger in 2024.
Messenger Business Statistics Show Marketing Potential
With such a vast engaged audience, Messenger offers immense potential for brands looking to effectively connect with current and prospective customers.
Important Messenger business and marketing statistics include:
- Over 40 million business pages and profiles actively leverage Messenger each month (Source: SocialMediaToday)
- 85% of major brands report using Messenger for communications and customer support (Source: Statista)
- Conversations between everyday users and businesses on Messenger grew over 40% year-over-year in early 2022 (Source: Facebook)
And when it comes to response rates, Messenger dramatically outperforms email:
- Messenger delivers upwards of 88% open rates, while email hovers around 25% (Source: QuickSprout)
- Click-through rates show even greater disparity, with Messenger driving 56%+ CTRs compared to 2-5% for email (Source: QuickSprout)
This makes Messenger ads and messages uniquely effective — leading an array of brands to invest in Messenger business tools.
Analyzing Messenger‘s Revenue Growth and Money-Making Potential
As Messenger continues growing its user base, engagement levels and utility as a marketing channel, the platform‘s money-making abilities accelerate as well.
Messenger‘s historical annual revenue figures — predominantly from advertising — showcase this rapid ascent:
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In 2017, Messenger generated just $130,000 in total revenue
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By 2018, yearly revenue jumped by over 1000% to $1.68 million
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In 2019 Messenger more than doubled revenue again to $4 million
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Most recently for full year 2020, Messenger revenue hit $14.78 million — a 270% year-over-year increase
(Source: Statista)
Driving this revenue growth is Messenger‘s development of multiple ad formats and opportunities beyond its Feed. For example:
- Stories Ads launched in 2019, allowing full-screen vertical video promotions
- Click-to-Messenger Ads embed a Messenger chat icon on webpages to drive conversations
- Messenger Inbox ads appear right within the Messenger interface itself
And conversational, interactive ad types like polls, carousels and lead generation templates help further monetization.
Forecasts from eMarketer predict worldwide user growth and enhanced monetization abilities will fuel 38% revenue expansion in 2024 to over $20 million.
That still remains a fraction of Facebook‘s total income. But as Messenger continues maturing capabilities for businesses to turn conversations into sales, expect revenue acceleration for years to come.
Chatbot and Automation Adoption Rising on Messenger
One innovative capability Messenger provides businesses is chatbot integration and messaging automation. As opposed to an human touch, bots leverage artificial intelligence to respond to customer inquiries in real-time.
And current data indicates strong existing adoption plus sizable growth potential among brands leveraging Messenger‘s platform for automated engagements:
- Over 300,000 chatbots are already deployed by brands across Messenger (Source: VentureBeat)
- 1.3 billion messages exchanged between users and bots monthly, up 60% year-over-year (Source: VentureBeat)
- The global chatbot market is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2025 (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
For businesses, benefits of deploying chatbots on Messenger include:
- Savings on human customer service expenses
- 24/7 automated support regardless of time zone
- High user satisfaction with quick responses
- Natural language processing to understand queries
And enhancements like Polly Dialog Manager from Amazon — which requires no coding to build bots — make setup straightforward.
As Messenger usage continues rising over the next five+ years amongst everyday users and business pages alike, expect expanded chatbot adoption to match the pace.
Prioritizing Privacy and Security as Messenger Matures
Of course beyond driving new features and capabilities, no messaging platform can sustain long-term growth without ensuring user trust through privacy and security.
Recent research from Ipsos indicates that:
- 76% of people believe instant messaging should prioritize privacy protections (Source: Ipsos)
- When selecting messaging apps, 56% of users rank security and privacy as the top consideration (Source: Ipsos)
Acknowledging evolving user attitudes, Facebook has responded across its messaging services — including updates designed to make Messenger more private, secure and reliable.
Specific privacy-centric Messenger improvements include:
- End-to-end encryption across one-on-one chats and group messages up to 1000 people (Source: Facebook)
- Vanish mode where messages disappear after seen to enable ephemeral messaging
- App lock requiring biometric or passcode authentication to access Messenger
Notably, many protections still trail leading encrypted messaging app Signal. And incidents like 2021‘s Facebook data breach give users pause on overall trust in Facebook‘s ecosystem.
But updated 2023 guidance indicates Facebook is taking tangible steps toward enhanced Messenger security — understanding its necessity to keep growing messaging market share over rivals like iMessage and WhatsApp long-term.
Messenger‘s Platform Provides Launchpad for Innovation
Beyond interface improvements and new ways to engage users directly, Messenger‘s underlying platform infrastructure provides developers, brands and creators avenues to build unique messaging experiences via bots, APIs and more.
For context, Messenger facilitates:
- Over 2M monthly active bot experiences like games, entertainment services and productivity tools (Source: VentureBeat)
- 100K+ bot submissions from global developers annually (Source: VentureBeat)
- 84M business app sessions monthly via Messenger API integrations as of mid-2022 (Source: VentureBeat)
This represents huge potential innovation territory — especially as interactive technologies like VR/AR and the metaverse continue advancing. Early indicators of potential abound:
- Beauty brand Perfect Corp lets Chinese users virtually try on makeup via AR directly through Messenger (Source: VentureBeat)
- Portal by Facebook prototypes integrated games using computer vision tech to bring real-world elements into virtual gameplay worlds
As Messenger usage continues rising over the next decade, its platform business model provides effectively unlimited possibilities for creators to build the next generation of apps atop Messenger‘s messaging backbone.
Key Takeaways and Predictions for Messenger Moving Forward
In reviewing the most current Facebook Messenger statistics and trends in 2024, long-term projections remain overwhelmingly positive:
- Given relentless user growth momentum, Messenger appears on pace to reach 1.5 billion global MAUs in late 2023 or early 2024
- Strong youth engagement points and new sign-ups position Messenger to retain dominance as today‘s teens turn into tomorrow‘s core messaging audience
- Revenue and advertising capabilities will expand in step with Messenger‘s user base, as businesses vie to effectively market to its audiences
- And an open underlying platform provides Messenger flexibility to integrate with — or even help power — exciting areas like metaverse apps
Of course challenges remain around sustaining privacy and security protections; continuing global network reliability at scale; and potential competition from traditional messaging apps or new paradigms.
But with new features launching constantly and clear commitment from Facebook to keep evolving its experience, Messenger‘s growth trajectory points clearly upward entering the late 2020s and beyond.
Citations and Sources
Facebook, SocialMediaToday, BackLinko, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessofApps, Datanyze, SimilarWeb, eMarketer, QuickSprout, Statista, VentureBeat, Mordor Intelligence, Ipsos
