YouTube & WhatsApp India User Growth: Approaching 500 Million

For many years, WhatsApp has held a dominant position in the Indian market. By the middle of 2019, the app, which is owned by Facebook, had reached a user base exceeding 400 million people within the country. At that time, its nearest competitor was YouTube, which reported approximately 260 million users in India, based on the company’s data and information from App Annie, a mobile insights provider.

However, the situation has undergone significant changes since then.

In December, App Annie data, shared with TechCrunch by an industry source, indicated that YouTube had 425 million monthly active users on Android phones and tablets in India. In contrast, WhatsApp recorded 422 million monthly active users on Android in India during the same period.

Considering usage across both Android and iOS devices, WhatsApp still leads in India with 459 million active users¹, though YouTube is close behind with 452 million users.

As China restricts access for U.S. technology companies, India has become a key growth market for both Silicon Valley and Chinese firms over the past decade. India’s internet user base grew from around 50 million in 2010 to over 600 million by the end of the decade. Both Google and Facebook contributed to this expansion.

Over the last four years, both Google and Facebook have invested in initiatives to connect people in India to the internet, a nation of nearly 1.4 billion inhabitants. Google began a project to provide Wi-Fi access to 400 railway stations and intended to broaden this program to other public locations. Facebook introduced Free Basics in India, and subsequently launched Express Wi-Fi after the initial program was discontinued.

Both Google and Facebook, identifying India as their largest user market, have reduced their connectivity efforts in recent years following the commitment of India’s wealthiest individual, Mukesh Ambani, to bring internet access to the country. Following his success, both companies acquired substantial stakes, worth billions of dollars, in his company, Jio Platforms, which has secured over 400 million subscribers.

Jio Platforms’ affordable mobile data plans have enabled hundreds of millions of Indians, who were previously mindful of their data consumption, to freely enjoy hours of content on YouTube and other video platforms in recent years. This expansion may account for Google’s increased focus on short-video applications.

The latest data shared with TechCrunch reveals several additional insights about the Indian market. Despite a slowing growth rate², WhatsApp continues to maintain exceptional user loyalty in India.

Over 95% of WhatsApp’s monthly active users in India engage with the app daily, and almost its entire user base accesses the app at least weekly. Conversely, three-quarters of YouTube’s monthly active users in India are also daily active users.

The data also showed that Google’s core app, along with Chrome—both of which, like YouTube, are typically pre-installed on most Android smartphones—have each surpassed 400 million monthly active users in India in recent months. Facebook’s app, in comparison, had approximately 325 million monthly active users in India last month.

Responding to a request for comment, a Google spokesperson directed TechCrunch to a Comscore report from the previous year, which estimated YouTube had around 325 million monthly unique users in India as of May 2020.

A separate report by research firm Media Partners Asia, released on Monday, estimated that YouTube generated 43% of the revenue in the Indian online video market last year (approximately $1.4 billion). Disney+ Hotstar accounted for 16% of the market share, while Netflix held 14%.

^{1 For clarity, I have not included data on the usage of WhatsApp Business and YouTube Kids in India. Both WhatsApp and YouTube also offer apps for KaiOS, the operating system powering JioPhone feature phones in India. The last available data indicated that over 40 million JioPhone handsets had been shipped in India. TechCrunch was unable to determine the extent to which any app has been adopted on this platform. Furthermore, the figures for YouTube on Android (phones and tablets) and iOS (iPhone and iPad) may overlap. This is not the case with WhatsApp, which limits a single phone number to one account. Therefore, if I have WhatsApp installed on an iPhone with my primary phone number, I cannot simultaneously use WhatsApp with the same number on an Android phone.}

^{2 WhatsApp Business is experiencing growth, having reached over 50 million users in India. The caveats from No. 1 also apply in this instance.}

^{3 While pre-installation provides Google with extensive distribution, users must still actively engage with the apps for App Annie and other mobile insights firms to register them as active. Therefore, Google’s apps must still attract and retain users.}