The Ultimate List of Instagram Stats [2021]

With more than 1 billion active monthly usersBrands are fast Recognize the need to be present on Instagram.

But as with any social network, the brands that get the most out of Instagram are the ones that are smart about what they post, when they post, how often they post, and who they target.

But how do you know what a “smart” contribution is to your company?

This is where the Instagram data comes in. There’s a lot of research going on on Instagram – from user demographics and the frequency with which brands post, to the negative impact storage space has on your posts’ performance (Hint, Hint: # 26).

Read on for more social media stats to use to brainstorm ideas and improve your own Instagram posting strategy.

43 Instagram statistics

Click on a category below to jump to the stats for that category:

1. The growth of Instagram
2. Target audience & demographics
3. Brand acceptance
4. Content of Instagram posts
5. Instagram posting strategy

The growth of Instagram

1. As of May 2021, there are over 1 billion active Instagram users per month worldwide. ((source)

2. As of 2020, there are an estimated 107 million Instagram users in the US alone, which is projected to grow to nearly 126 million by 2023. (source)

3. As of February 2021, 40% of adults in the US reported using Instagram. This is a larger percentage than using Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The only two social media apps that are more popular than Instagram are Facebook and YouTube. ((source)

4.Instagram generated $ 20 billion in advertising revenue in 2019. In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $ 1 billion. ((source)

5.Instagram saw an increase in user time spent on the app by almost 14% between 2019 and 2020, to an average of 30 minutes per day. This was a higher engagement growth than any other social platform. ((source)

6. Aside from Instagram’s own account, the most-visited Instagram account will be operated by professional soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo as of February 2021, followed by celebrities Ariana Grande, Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson and Kylie Jenner. ((source)

Target audience & demographics

7. 71% of US adults aged 18-29 use Instagram, compared with 70% on Facebook and 30% on LinkedIn. ((source)

8. 47% of US Instagram users earn more than 75,000 a year. (source)

9. As of October 2020, 510 million Instagram users are female and 490 million are male. ((source)

10. 72% of teenagers use Instagram and 57 million US teenagers say Instagram is their social media platform of choice. ((source)

11. Over 500 million accounts use Instagram Stories every day. ((source)

12. 35% of music listeners in the US who follow artists on Facebook and Instagram do so to connect with other fans or to feel part of a community. ((source)

13. The average Instagram user spends 30 minutes a day with the app. (source)

14. 45% of Instagram users live in urban areas. ((source)

15. As of January 2021, the USA (140 million), India (140 million) and Brazil (99 million) are the countries with the most Instagram users. ((source)

Brand acceptance

16. 70% of shopping enthusiasts turn to Instagram for product discovery. ((source)

17. 69% of US marketers plan to spend most of their influencer budget on Instagram. ((source)

18. 90% of the people on Instagram follow at least one company. ((source)

19. 50% are more interested in a brand when they see ads for it on Instagram. ((source)

20. In a report from 2021, the higher education industry currently has the highest engagement rate of any other industry per post on Instagram at 3.19%. In second place were the sports teams with 1.79% and in third place the influencers with 1.42%. ((source)

21. 67% of surveyed users “looked through” brand story links. ((source)

22. 130 million Instagram accounts tap a purchase item to learn more about products every month. ((source)

Content of Instagram posts

23. 995 photos are uploaded to Instagram every second. ((source)

24. The median posting cadence across all industries is 4 posts per week. The average publication frequency this year decreased by only 8% compared to the previous year. ((source)

25. On Instagram, photos with faces get 38% more likes than photos without faces. ((source)

26. On Instagram, images with a lot of negative storage generate 29% more likes than images with minimal negative storage. ((source)

27. On Instagram, pictures with blue as the dominant color generate 24% more likes than pictures that are predominantly red. ((source)

28. This is so much that the latest Instagram statistics show that an average Instagram post contains up to 10.7 hashtags. ((source)

29. Image posts received 27.55% more likes than permanent video posts. ((source)

30. An average picture on Instagram receives 23% more engagement than one posted on Facebook. ((source)

31. The most geotagged city in the world is Los Angeles, California and the most highly exposed location is Coachella, California. ((source)

Instagram posting strategy

32. The best time to post on Instagram is Thursday between 5am and 11am in your respective time zone. ((source)

33. Posts with a tagged location lead to 79% higher engagement than posts without a tagged location. ((source)

34. 20% of the surveyed users publish posts on Instagram Stories on their business account more than once a week. ((source)

35. 44% of the surveyed users use Instagram Stories to advertise products or services. ((source)

36. One third of the most viewed stories come from companies. ((source)

37. More than 25 million businesses use Instagram to reach and connect with audiences. ((source)

38. 69% of US marketers plan to spend most of their influencer budget on Instagram. ((source)

39. In April 2020, the number of Instagram influencers working with brands that used #ad decreased by 30% from April 2019, and was the lowest total since August 2019. (source)

40. The industry most efficient at working with Instagram influencers was healthcare, where influencer posts were 4.2 times more efficient than branded posts. ((source)

41. Micro-influencers – with fewer than 100,000 followers – made up an average of 93% of all brand collaborations in 2020. (source)

42. 46% of B2B content marketers used Instagram as an organic game in 2020. (source)

43. Instagram is now the most popular social platform for the following brands. ((source)