TikTok Reveals User Growth Numbers for the First Time

For a while now, TikTok has built a reputation as the most downloaded social media app in the United States.

However, the company had never revealed how many people actually use the app every day — until last week. As part of a lawsuit against the U.S. government, TikTok makers had to share details of its user numbers.

A TikTok blog post to explain the lawsuit reads:

“Today, 100 million Americans turn to TikTok for entertainment, inspiration, and connection; countless creators rely on our platform to express their creativity, reach broad audiences, and generate income”

Here’s a breakdown of the lawsuit filing.

Details of TikTok’s User Growth in the United States

According to the document, roughly 100 million people in the U.S. use TikTok every month. Likewise, the social media app gets a whopping 50 million users every day.

The filing also suggests that TikTok users have increased by 800 percent since January 2018.

Here’s a breakdown of the user growth milestones in the United States:

11 million U.S. monthly active users in January 2018
40 million U.S. monthly active users in October 2019
92 million U.S. monthly active users in June 2020

As of August 2020, TikTok users in the United States had reached over 100 million based on quarterly usage. What’s more, the video-sharing app has experienced a similar surge globally.

A Breakdown of TikTok’s Global User Growth

Back in January 2018, TikTok had about 55 million global users. However, the number has surged since, reaching over 271 million by December 2018 and 507 million in the following year.

Here’s a breakdown of the user growth milestones globally:

55 million global monthly active users in January 2018
271 million global monthly active users in December 2018
507 million global monthly active users in December 2019

According to the company, the social app surpassed 2 billion global downloads this month. It also reported nearly 700 million active users in July.

Facebook is still way ahead of TikTok in terms of active users. The social media app sits at the top, with roughly 2.7 billion global monthly active users.

However, TikTok could conceivably catch up if its exponential growth persists for a few years. On the other hand, the surge could come to a halt following the video-sharing app’s ban in the U.S.