WhatsApp now has 400 million active users in India

WhatsApp currently has over 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide, out of which 400 million active users are from India.

By: Tech Desk
New Delhi | July 26, 2019 09:11 PM IST

2 min read

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The CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant revealed this number at a press conference held by WhatsApp.

WhatsApp now has over 400 million active users in India. The CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant revealed this number at a press conference held by WhatsApp. India remains one of the biggest markets for the Facebook-owned instant messaging app.

To recall, the company back in 2017 announced that it had about 200 million active users in India. The company did not share any India-specific data in between.This 400 million number means that a majority of India’s half a billion internet users are using WhatsApp. A study by Kantar IMRB in March 2019 had said that India has close to 566 million internet users, and this number is expected to cross 600 million by the end of the year.

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WhatsApp remains the most popular messaging in India and its growth has been helped by the several factors. For one, smartphones have seen tremendous growth in India, which is the second biggest market in the world in terms of volume. Plus data per GB is now the cheapest in the country after the entry of Reliance Jio.

Plus WhatsApp has expanded beyond smartphones in India as the app is now available on KaiOS, the operating system running JioPhone, the budget friendly feature/smart phone from the telecom operator. The messaging app was in fact first made available for KaiOS in India for JioPhone users.

Also Read: WhatsApp working on multiple-platform support for accounts

According to the last official statistics the company revealed globally, WhatsApp currently has over 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide. The company currently has no major competition in the instant messaging space in India.

WhatsApp also confirmed that it plans launch payments feature in India by the end of the year. The payment services has been in beta-testing in India for now. It is based on UPI or the Unified Payments Interface, which allows for instant bank transfers via linking of the mobile phone number.

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