Nearly half of internet users use WhatsApp each week

An overview of WhatsApp penetration by gender, age and household income between 2017 and 2019.

WhatsApp penetration has grown to nearly one-half, according to the latest data from YouGov and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Across 38 countries this year, 47.9% of internet users said they had used the platform in the past week. This is up 4.2 percentage points (pp) from last year.

Individuals in high-income households have seen WhatsApp usage grow rapidly since 2017, reaching 55.0% of internet users this year. This is compared to 43.3% of low-income individuals.

WhatsApp is significantly more popular with female internet users, 49.8% compared to 45.8% for males this year. This difference is particularly...

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