X

Instagram passes 80 million users

In less than three months, 30 million new users have started using the app.

Emil Protalinski
2 min read
Instagram

Less than three months after announcing its last milestone of 50 million users, Instagram has passed the 80 million user mark. This means the app has managed to increase its user base by more than 10 million users on average per month.

Make no mistake: the timing of the announcement today isn't accidental; Facebook, which announced in April that it is acquiring Instagram, is today releasing its first earnings report as a public company. CNET has live coverage.

Instagram also revealed that its users have shared almost 4 billion photos. That's still a far cry from Facebook's 300 million photos uploaded every day, but it's certainly huge if you remember Instagram is mobile-only (though that may soon change).

Here's the full announcement from Instagram:

We're excited to announce that the Instagram community has grown to over 80 million registered users who have shared nearly 4 billion photos! Since we launched Instagram in October 2010, we've expanded from one platform to two, bringing Instagram to Android users as well as iOS users. As the community has grown, we've seen people sharing photos from all around the world, from South Korea to Bolivia, and even underwater!

We're humbled by the amazing photos from people's lives we see every day on Instagram, and thank you for being part of this growing community.

The Instagram Team

You may be wondering how Instagram has been growing since its inception just more than two years ago. The answer to the Quora question "How many users does Instagram have?" should satisfy your curiosity:

  • October 13, 2010: 100,000.
  • October 20, 2010: 200,000.
  • October 28, 2010: 300,000.
  • December 21, 2010: 1 million.
  • February 01, 2011: 1.75 million.
  • February 15, 2011: 2 million.
  • May 03, 2011: 3.6 million.
  • May 26, 2011: 4.4 million.
  • October 31, 2011: 12 million.
  • December 5, 2011: 14 million.
  • January 24, 2012: 15 million.
  • March 11, 2012: 27 million.
  • May 1, 2012: 50 million.
  • July 26, 2012: 80 million.

It won't be long now before Instagram hits 100 million users.

Where is this growth coming from? Well, as of three months ago, Instagram is no longer just an iPhone app: the Android app is proving to be very popular. On top of that, the Facebook effect is causing millions of users to go ahead and try Instagram. Since it is a social app, meaning it's something you use with your friends, both of these reasons have exponential results, and so Instagram's user base is exploding.