59 TikTok Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind! (2021)

Ready to shock new life into your 2021 digital marketing strategy with these turbo-charged TikTok statistics?

Of course you are!

Picture it:

More engagement, more conversions, and more smiles on your prospects’ faces.

Who wouldn’t want that?

So let’s cut to the chase:

TikTok is an unstoppable juggernaut of social media…

And the world is obsessed with it.

In fact, as a marketer or business owner, you’d be crazy not to get in on the action.

But like any good battle plan, you need to know what you’re getting into.

This is why we’ve combed through TikTok analytics and carefully plucked the 59 most useful TikTok stats to guide you along.

Ready for an inside look at one of the world’s most popular platforms?

Let’s roll!

What is TikTok?

Sometimes it’s cringey, sometimes it’s gut-busting hilarious, but when it comes to TikTok, one thing is for sure:

It’s a cultural phenomenon that’s here to stay.

So what’s the story behind TikTok?

And why is the world so addicted to it?

TikTok: A Tale of 3 Apps

In 2016, the Chinese tech company, ByteDance, launched Douyin, a social media app (available exclusively in China) for creating and sharing short videos.

Although similar to the now-defunct platform, Vine, Douyin blew the lid off social media in China, having amassed more than 100 million users in its first year.

Capitalizing on Douyin’s success, ByteDance released an international version of the app called TikTok in September 2017.

Here’s where it gets juicy:

In November of 2017, just months after launching TikTok, ByteDance purchased the popular lip-syncing app, Musical.ly, along with its 200 million active user accounts.

Finally, in 2018, Musical.ly’s platform and audience were folded into TikTok, effectively ending Musical.ly and skyrocketing TikTok into social media stardom.

What Makes TikTok So Addictive?

Scrolling through TikTok is like playing a Vegas slot machine:

It’s fast-paced, filled with vibrant visuals and catchy songs, and you’re always itching for just one more round.

But here’s the rub:

Every time you watch something, TikTok’s algorithm is learning and instantly customizing your feed based on your interests and engagement.

In other words, TikTok finds out what you like, and spoon feeds it to you as fast as possible.

What’s more, TikTok videos are short, about 15 seconds on average, making it even easier to binge-watch and keep our lizard brains happy.

Let’s face it, TikTok cracked the code on video entertainment.

And in a short period of time, TikTok has fostered a viral community of TikTok creators and become a beacon of creativity and communication—the type of thing that defines a generation.

Still with me here?

Perfect, let’s slide into our main event:

TikTok statistics.

General TikTok Statistics

1. TikTok is the 7th largest social network, with millions of new users signing up every month. Currently, TikTok outranks Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter, and even its Chinese sister app, Douyin. Not too shabby, considering the app only launched in 2017.

2. TikTok has been downloaded more than 2 billion times on the App Store and Google Play. Given its viral status, expect TikTok’s numbers to keep growing.

3. 75.5% of TikTok installs come from Google Play and 24.5% of installs are from the App store.

4. As of 2020, TikTok is the fastest-growing social media network ever. Of course, many argue that Facebook, Instagram, and even Vine (R.I.P) paved the way for TikTok. And they’re not wrong. But TikTok developers lend the popularity of the app to the fact that anyone can be a content creator and produce polished content quickly and easily.

5. Currently, the TikTok app is available in 144 of 155 countries (and in 39 languages). This number fluctuates as certain countries, like India, have banned the app for political reasons.

6. TikTok was the #1 most downloaded app of 2020, beating out Facebook for the top spot. Many attribute TikTok’s 2020 dominance to people’s desire for entertainment and connection during coronavirus lockdowns.

7. TikTok is also the #7 most downloaded app of the decade (between 2010 and 2019), outranking apps that have been around far longer, like YouTube and Twitter.

8. If you think TikTok is slowing down, think again. Because even in January 2021, there were still 62 million TikTok downloads (10% of which were from the US).

9. TikTok was the #3 fastest growing brand in 2020, behind NBC’s Peacock (#2) and Zoom (#1).

10. TikTok broke records in March 2020, accumulating 115.2 million downloads in 31 days. By comparison, Instagram averaged about 111.5 million installs per quarter.

11. As of April 2020, TikTok is the 93rd most visited website in the world.

12. ByteDance developed Douyin/TikTok in just 200 days.

TikTok User Statistics

13. TikTok has over 689 million monthly active users. Put another way, 8.7% of planet Earth’s population uses TikTok.

14. Of 4.67 billion monthly active users around the world, 15.07% use TikTok (and 13.12% use Douyin).

15. Of 3.81 billion social media users around the world, 18.08% use TikTok (and 15.75% use Douyin).

16. TikTok is hugely popular among Gen Z and late-born millennials, with 32.5% of users between the ages of 10-19 and 29.5% of users between the ages of 20-29. Put another way, 62% of TikTok’s user base is under the age of 30.

17. In a Fall 2020 survey from Piper Sandler, teens rated TikTok as their #2 favorite social media platform, just behind Snapchat.

18. Although Gen Z was the first to claim the TikTok trend as their own, the number of US adults using TikTok increased 5.5 times between October of 2017 and March of 2019 and continues to infiltrate older demographics…

19. …And here’s the proof that TikTok is aging up: 16.4% of users are between the ages of 30-39, 13.9% are between 40-49, and 7.1% of users are 50+.

20. Technically, China has the most Douyin users (China’s version of TikTok) with 600 million daily active users. However, Douyin isn’t available outside of China for international markets. So…

21. …What country has the most TikTok users? India had over 200 million TikTok users before being banned in 2020 (along with 58 other apps) for political reasons.

22. Sorting active TikTok users by country, we found that there are over 100 million monthly active users hailing from the US alone. (After India, the US has the most TikTok users worldwide).

23. Since January 2018, TikTok’s US user base has increased 787.6%.

24. Korean K-Pop group BTS reached 1 million followers on TikTok in 3 hours and 31 minutes, setting a Guinness World Record in the process.

TikTok Usage Statistics

25. 37% of US mobile internet users access TikTok at least once per month.

26. What country uses TikTok the most? Well, after the ban in India, the US takes the crown with over 50 million American TikTok-ers logging into the app daily. (And even more using the app on a monthly basis).

27. Users spend an average of 52 minutes on the app every day, just behind Instagram (53 minutes) and Facebook (58.5 minutes).

28. 83% of all TikTok users have uploaded their own content.

29. About 35% of users have participated in a hashtag challenge.

30. 64% of TikTok users have tried filters or lenses to create a TikTok video.

31. As of June 2020, entertainment is the most popular category based on the number of hashtag views, having gathered 443.3 billion hashtag views.

32. Dance is the second most popular category with 150.3 billion hashtag views.

33 . And pranks is the third most popular category with 54 billion hashtag views.

34. In the US, 58.8% of TikTok users are female, and 41.2% are male users. This is in line with worldwide demographics citing a 60-40 female-to-male split.

35. The TikTok audience is far more engaged compared to Instagram. US influencers boast an average TikTok engagement rate of 17.5% versus Instagram’s 4.7% engagement rate.

36. International TikTok influencers have an average engagement rate of 15.86%

37. According to ByteDance, an average TikTok session lasts around 5 minutes. However, recent data from Statista suggests an average TikTok session is closer to 11 minutes.

38. According to a leaked pitch deck from ByteDance, TikTok users open the app an average of 8 times per day.

39. Here’s a burning question: what is the most viewed TikTok? It’s Zach King’s Magic Broomstick, which has 2.1 billion views (as of April 2021). FYI: He also holds records for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th most viewed TikTok videos.

40. Facebook’s TikTok clone, Lasso, generated six downloads for every 1000 downloads of TikTok. (Facebook killed Lasso in 2020, just 18 months after launching).

41. In 2019, TikTok Android users spent 68 billion hours on the app.

42. As of April 2021, Charli D’Amelio is the most popular TikTok influencer with close to 112 million followers. Addison Rae ranks second with 79.2 million followers.

43. The top 10 TikTok influencers collectively have over 607 million followers (as of April 2021).

TikTok Business Statistics

44. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, reported a $3 billion profit on $17 billion in revenue in 2019, more than doubling its 2018 revenue of $7.4 billion.

45. And in just the first quarter of 2020, ByteDance, generated $5.6 billion in revenue.

46. About 37% of adult TikTok users come from households earning $100k+ annual incomes.

47. There are 5 major ad types on TikTok: in-feed videos, brand takeover, top view, branded lenses, hashtag challenges.

48. According to TikTok, the minimum budget at the campaign level is $50, and the minimum budget at the ad group level costs $20. (These are for your most basic in-feed ad campaigns).

49. Brand takeover TikTok ads cost an average of $50,000 per day.

50. In-feed TikTok ads cost an average of $10 per 1000 impressions.

51. Hashtag challenges run about $150,000 per week.

52. Branded lenses/filters tip the scales at about $80,000 per day.

53. TikTok influencers charge between $5 – $2,500+ per post depending on follower count, celebrity status, and engagement rate.

54. Taking advantage of influencer marketing on TikTok, a CoverGirl hashtag challenge generated 6.5 billion impressions, and influencer-created videos were viewed over 34 million times.

55. In 2020, TikTok initiated its TikTok Creator Fund, a monetization program for eligible creators worth $1 billion in payouts over the next three years.

56. By February of 2020, TikTok generated a total of $300 million in lifetime user spending.

57. And in February 2021, TikTok was the top-grossing non-gaming mobile app in the world, generating more than $110 million in user spending in February alone.

58. In 2020, TikTok saw a 500% increase in the number of US advertisers on the social platform, with major brands like McDonald’s, Bose, and Kate Spade embracing TikTok marketing.

59. According to Bloomberg, in March 2021, ByteDance was valued at $250 billion, up from its $180 billion valuation in late 2020.

Harness the Power of TikTok Statistics and Shoot for the Moon

We’ve given you 59 uber-helpful TikTok statistics to help drive your next explosive digital marketing campaign.

And as you’ve seen, there’s more to TikTok than the battle of side parts and skinny jeans…

It’s actually a very lucrative space.

What’s more, despite its massive growth, TikTok is still an emerging content market with lots of low-hanging fruit.

So use these stats like a cheat sheet in your marketing playbook, and then launch a campaign that changes your business forever.

TikTok and don’t stop, baby.