from Statista.com
— this post authored by Felix Richter
When Snap, the company behind Snapchat, filed for its initial public offering last week, it not only granted us a first look at the financials behind the popular smartphone app but also revealed the size of its user base.
According to the registration document, Snapchat had 159 million daily active users by the end of 2016, up from 106 million a year ago and 71 million at the end of 2014.
With 68 million users, North America (including Mexico and the Caribbean) has the largest Snapchat fan base ahead of Europe (52 million) and the rest of the world (39 million). While still growing, the rate of Snapchat’s user growth slowed down significantly in the second half of 2016.
Interestingly, that slowdown coincided with the launch of Instagram Stories in August. While copying a feature from your rival’s playbook may not have been the most elegant move by Instagram (or Facebook for that matter), it certainly was effective: by October, Instagram Stories already had 100 million daily users, illustrating how big a threat Instagram with its 600 million users poses to Snapchat’s long-term success.
This chart shows Snapchat’s user growth since 2014.
You will find more statistics at Statista.
