50 Instagram Statistics You Should Know in 2024

Deciding which social media platform to use for your brand can be difficult, especially when there’s a wonderful array to choose from. As a visually exciting and popular platform for a variety of audiences, Instagram is a great channel for brands looking to promote their products or services and connect with customers. Discover why Instagram can be a great place for brands and influencers to flourish with some fascinating statistics and facts. 

Kevin Systrom, the creator of Instagram developed the app inspired by his love for photography. The initial idea was to create an app where users could feature and share photographs, specifically those taken on mobile phones. 

As well as photography, Systrom had a passion for fine whiskeys and bourbons, hence the creation of Burbn, an app which allowed users to share photos, post plans, and check in.

Instagram, the visually enticing social media app that we adore today took only eight weeks for software engineers to develop before it was launched.

Founded on 6th October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram racked up 25,000 users in just one day.

When first launched,  Instagram was only available for iPhone users. It wasn’t until two years later (April 2012), that IG was made available to Android users.

Instagram garnered 1 million users by 12th December 2010.

In April 2012, Facebook offered to buy Instagram for 1 billion dollars. 

By June 2018, Instagram acquired 1 billion users. 

Instagram statistics show that the app is the world’s third most popular social network, with 2 billion monthly active users. 

As of January 2024, Instagram has more male users (50.6%) than female users (49.4%). 

32.9% of males aged 18 to 34 use Instagram compared to 29.4% of females aged 18 to 34. 

47% of teens in the US use Instagram every day.

Millennials (those aged 25 to 44) make up 46.6% of all Instagram users, making them the most active age group on the platform.

Younger generations are more likely to be active on Instagram, with 31.7% of users aged 18 to 24. 

66% of teenage girls say they use Instagram compared with teenage boys at 53%. 

68% of teenagers aged 15 to 17 say they use Instagram, decreasing to 45% among teens aged 13 and 14.

With around 67.9 million people living in the UK, almost half of the entire population uses Instagram. 

The country with the most Instagram users is India with over 362.9 million active users, followed by the US (169.65 million) and Brazil (134.6 million).

Instagram Reels have an average engagement rate of 1.23%, followed by carousels with a 1.02% engagement rate and images with a 0.72% engagement rate. 

Instagram Reels have seen a 57.4% surge in usage from 2022 to 2023. 

Reels acquire 29 saves for accounts with a following from 0 to 50,000 compared to carousels which garner 24 saves for accounts with the same audience size. 

Carousels acquire 127 saves for accounts with a following from 50,000 to 100,000+ compared to Reels which garner 121 saves for accounts with the same audience size. 

Instagram carousels garner the highest number of comments, with an average of 20 comments for both small and large accounts. 

Instagram Reels have an average reach of 30.81%, followed by carousels with a 14.45% reach and images with a 13.14% reach.

Over 2023, reach for Instagram carousels has decreased by 45%. 

Instagram Reels have an average impression rate of 33.83%, followed by carousels with a 17.88% impression rate and images with a 14.32% impression rate.

When interacting with Instagram and Facebook, users spend 50% of their time watching videos. 

Instagram Live is incredibly popular with users, with more than 1 million people watching it daily. 

In March 2020, Instagram garnered a 70% increase in live video streaming. 

67% of Instagram users say content quality is the most important element of a Live video. 

With more than 61 million likes, the most popular post on Instagram is Lionel Messi and his teammates after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

Eight in ten (80%) social media marketers use Instagram to promote their businesses.

According to Instagram statistics, 77% of marketers retarget Instagram and Facebook ads to increase their reach.

13% of marketers use Instagram Live to boost their business and increase sales. 

The number of Instagram users who see IG ads every month has grown by 251 million over the past year. 

Instagram’s advertising reach increased by 12.2% over the past 12 months. 

Businesses spend, on average, between $0 and $500 per month on Instagram ads. 

30.34% of marketers spend between $0.00 and $0.25 on Instagram ads followed by 19.10% of marketers at $0.26 – $0.50. 

Almost half of marketers (46.8%) spend between $0.00 and $4.00 per 1,000 impressions on Instagram. 

76% of marketers say they’re satisfied with the return or investment (ROI) gained via Instagram advertising.

According to Instagram statistics and internal data, 70% of shoppers look to Instagram for their next purchase. 

Nano influencers (those with a following from 1,000 to 10,000) make up 76.86% of Instagram’s influencer landscape. 

With 2 billion monthly active users, Instagram is the third most popular social media platform after YouTube with 2.504 billion users and Facebook with 3.065 billion users.

Out of all social media platforms, US teens visit YouTube most often, followed by TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook.

13% of live video viewers are interested in Instagram and Twitter while 26% prefer Facebook for live videos. 

Thanks to low CPC and high conversion rates, Instagram yields the highest ROI, tied only with Facebook at 29%.

Almost half of brands (46.7%) use Instagram for influencer marketing while 68.8% of brands use TikTok for influencer activity.

Collectively, all Instagram users spend 17.6 million hours a day watching Reels while TikTok users spend a whopping 197.8 million hours a day watching TikTok videos.

35% of Instagram users made a purchase on the platform in 2023 while 33.3% of TikTok users did the same. 

Comparing Instagram statistics to TikTok,72% of Instagram users say Instagram influences their buying decisions, while 78% of TikTok users purchase a product after seeing it featured on TikTok. 

Out of all content types on Instagram, Reels have the highest engagement rate, garner the most reach and receive the most impressions and this isn’t likely to change. Instagram Reels will still rule while carousels will either plateau or continue to decline. Could we see the death of carousels? With people buying more products on Instagram, it looks like in-app purchases could become even more popular, especially as the platform is highly influential when it comes to users purchasing decisions. 

As a beautifully visual platform with a diverse audience, brands and influencers looking to boost awareness or drive sales should definitely include Instagram in their social strategies. Still a little unsure? No problem! Drop us a line and we can work together to elevate your social presence.