24 Essential TikTook Stats Entrepreneurs Must Know in 2022

Whether you love it or hate it, TikTok is increasingly hard to ignore. After a record-smashing 2021, the app (and its audiences) are bigger than ever.

While many still think of it as a Gen Z platform for dance challenges, TikTok has grown to encompass every kind of content and community. And with the launch of in-app in 2021, it’s become even more essential to brands looking to connect directly with customers.

As you develop your 2022 TikTok marketing strategy, here are the key TikTok stats to keep in mind.

General TikTok stats

1. TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021, with 656 million downloads

That’s over 100 million downloads more than the runner-up, Instagram, which was downloaded 545 million times last year.

It’s also the third year in a row that TikTok has held the number-one spot. It was downloaded 693 million times in 2019 and 850 million times in 2020. Like many apps on the most-downloaded list, it experienced a major drop in worldwide downloads from the previous year, but held onto its top ranking.

According to Apptopia, TikTok was also the number-one download in the United States, with 94 million downloads in 2021— a 6% increase over 2020.

TikTok also continued its streak as the top-grossing app, surpassing $2.5 billion dollars in consumer spending in 2021.

2. TikTok has been downloaded more than 3 billion times

TikTok hit three billion downloads in July 2021. That’s even more impressive when you realize that they reached two billion downloads less than a year before.

It’s also the first non-Facebook app to reach 3 billion downloads. Since January 2014, the only other apps to do so are Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

And even though it launched in 2016, TikTok is the seventh-most downloaded app of the 2010’s.

3. TikTok is the 6th most-used social platform in the world

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

It ranks just behind Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and WeChat. Since 2021, it’s surpassed Facebook Messenger to move into 6th place.

However, there’s another way to look at these rankings. The Chinese version of TikTok is called Douyin, which is number eight on this list. Douyin is actually the original app launched by parent company ByteDance in September 2016, who rolled out TikTok for international audiences in 2017. There are small differences between the two apps, but they look and function almost the same way.

Douyin boasts 600 million daily active users (most apps use monthly figures). When the two apps are combined, they reach fourth place on this list, ahead of Instagram and WeChat.

4. US adults have mixed opinions on TikTok

TikTok is not without its detractors: in the US, 34% of adults hold unfavorable opinions of the app, compared to 37% who have favorable views. This is more controversial than other platforms: Instagram is viewed favorably by 50% of adults and unfavorably by 24%. Facebook is viewed favorably by 55% and unfavorably by 39%.

Source: Statista, Share of adults in the United States who have a favorable opinion of TikTok as of November 2021.

This varies by age, naturally. Fifty-nine percent of 18- to 34-year-olds view TikTok favorably, compared to 40% of 35- to 44-year-olds and 31% of 45- to 64-year-olds. Generally speaking, older demographics are more skeptical of the platform compared to younger ones.

This caution may reflect the platform’s history with disturbing content. In December 2021, a viral hoax about school violence spread rapidly across TikTok, alarming parents and children. Other hoaxes and harmful content, like videos promoting rapid weight loss, have proliferated on the platform and drawn criticism.

In response, TikTok announced updates to their Community Guidelines in February 2022 to improve safety. They’ve committed to removing dangerous content from the platform, with particular attention to content promoting hateful ideologies, eating disorders, violence, or self-harm.

TikTok user stats

5. TikTok has over one billion monthly active users.

It’s an understatement to say TikTok is growing rapidly. Eight new users join TikTok every second, with an average of 650,000 new users joining daily. NBD, just the entire population of Helsinki signing up each day.

Those numbers add up fast. In September 2021, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance reported that they had hit the one billion mark— a 45% increase since July 2020. Compared to Facebook and YouTube, which both took eight years to hit a billion users, TikTok made it in just five years. What’s more, TikTok is expected to reach 1.5 billion users by the end of 2022.

6. TikTok users are active on other social media platforms

Social media users are active on multiple platforms: those between the ages of 18 and 34 are using 8 platforms every month. TikTok users are no different, with 99.9% reporting that they’re using other platforms.

You’re most likely to find TikTok users on Facebook (84.6% overlap), Instagram (83.9% overlap), and YouTube (80.5% overlap).

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

7. TikTok is now more popular than Instagram among Gen Z users in the US

TikTok has now surpassed Instagram for popularity among Gen Z users (born between 1997 and 2012) in the United States, with 37.3 million to Instagram’s 33.3 million.

Source: eMarketer, May 2021

But TikTok is also making big gains in other age demographics: in the first quarter of 2021, 36% of TikTok users were between 35 and 54 years old, compared to 26% in 2020.

While Snapchat is still more popular than Instagram and TikTok among Gen Z, by 2025 all three apps are expected to have roughly the same number of users.

8. TikTok’s user base skews female

Worldwide, TikTok’s user base is 57% female. That figure rises to 61% for TikTok users in the US.

While TikTok’s user base is increasingly diverse, it’s still true that the brands hoping to reach younger female audiences will likely see the best results.

9. No user demographic prefers TikTok as its favorite app

Interestingly, only 4.3% of internet users named TikTok as their favorite social media platform. That’s less than a third as many users as those who favored Instagram (14.8%) or Facebook (14.5%)

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

And despite TikTok’s reputation for dominating the Gen Z market, it doesn’t rank as the top choice for younger users. Users between the ages of 16 and 24 rank Instagram as their top choice: 22.8% of males, and 25.6% of females. Only 8.9% of female users in this age demographic selected TikTok as their top choice, and just 5.4% of males.

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

TikTok usage statistics

10. Android users spend 19.6 hours per month on TikTok

That’s a 47% increase in time spent on the app compared to 2020, when Android users were spending 13.3 hours each month.

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

In terms of time spent, TikTok is tied for second place with Facebook. YouTube is still in the top position, holding users’ interest for an average of 23.7 hours each month.

Usage varies by country. UK users spend the most time on TikTok, with an average of 27.3 hours. Those in the US spend an average of 25.6 hours per month on TikTok, slightly more than Canadian users, who spend 22.6 hours each month.

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

11. TikTok is the most engaging social media app — by far.

Anyone who has opened TikTok to watch a single video and resurfaced an hour later can attest the app’s powers of engagement. In fact, TikTok is the most engaging of all social media apps, with an average user session of 10.85 minutes.

That’s more than twice as long as the second-most engaging app, Pinterest, which clocks in at 5.06 minutes per session. It’s also more than three times longer than users typically spend on Instagram, at 2.95 minutes per session.

12. The majority of people use TikTok to find funny/entertaining content

When asked in the 2022 GlobalWebIndex survey how they mainly use TikTok, the majority of respondents answered: “to find funny/entertaining content.”

Posting/sharing content ranks as the second most common behavior and keeping up with news placed as the third most popular. For comparison, posting content was the top use for Instagram and Snapchat. So, it may be fair to infer that entertainment value is TikTok’s key selling point, especially in terms of consumption.

Other social sites people use to find funny/entertaining content include Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter, and Snapchat. But TikTok and Reddit were the only apps where that use case ranked first.

14. 430 songs surpassed 1 billion video views as TikTok sounds in 2021

Music is bigger than ever on TikTok. Compared to 2020, three times as many songs surpassed one billion views. 75% of TikTok users say they discover new songs on the app, and 73% of users associate specific songs with TikTok. Many of these tunes find conventional success too: in 2021, 175 songs trended on TikTok and charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

According to the TikTok’s What’s Next Report 2022, 88% of users report that music is critical to the TikTok experience. Maybe that’s why 93% of top performing videos use audio.

15. Users are watching longer videos (and liking it)

Until recently, TikTok users were limited to 60 seconds for their videos. But in July 2021, TikTok began giving users the option of uploading videos up to three minutes in length — and then in 2022, 10 minutes.

In October, TikTok reported that longer videos (meaning anything over one minute) had already received more than five billion views globally. Longer videos are most popular with users in Vietnam, Thailand and Japan, while users in the US, UK and Brazil are most engaged with them.

And with the introduction of TikTok TV in November 2021, TikTok is providing users with more ways to watch video. Considering more than half of YouTube users view content on a TV screen, it’s likely that TikTok will see a similar increase in reach and engagement.

16. Finance TikTok grew by 255% in 2021

According to TikTok’s What’s Next Report 2022, topics related to investing, cryptocurrency, and all things finance had a huge year. Compared to 2020, views for videos tagged #NFT grew by a brain-melting 93,000%. The #crypto hashtag also exploded, garnering 1.9 billion videos. Financial topics are subject to TikTok’s wild tendencies, as exemplified by the #TikTokDogeCoinChallenge.

But there is also an active and rapidly growing personal finance community on the app.

@rorykdouglas

Five things your WEREN’T taugh about MONEY in school 🤦‍♂️💰🏫 #money #finance #school #advice #moneytok

♬ STREETSX VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL – XXKATUSJINSUX

Even if your brand has nothing to do with finance, the growth of FinTok demonstrates that any industry can find a foothold in the app if they’re making quality content. Whatever your brand’s niche may be, you can guarantee your audience is on the app.

TikTok is often trivialized as silly entertainment, but it’s also a platform that audiences— particularly young people— use to educate themselves. Short, accessible video content provides an entry point into topics that can otherwise be intimidating, like #inflation (which also saw a 1900% increase in views last year).

But connecting with your audience can be tricky on TikTok, which prioritizes discoverability through hashtags and the “For You” page. Fortunately, we can teach you how to navigate the TikTok algorithm.

TikTok for business statistics

17. TikTok is the top app for consumer spend

According to AppAnnie, TikTok is the number-one app for driving consumer spending, surpassing Tinder for the top spot.

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

Consumer spending on TikTok increased by a whopping 77% in 2021. Overall, users spent $2.3 billion dollars in the app, compared to $1.3 billion the year before.

18. TikTok ads reach 17.9% of all internet users age 18+

That’s 884.9 million people, or 15.9% of the worldwide population of people over 18.

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

TikTok’s reach is highest for Gen Z users, reaching 25% of female users aged 18-24 and 17.9% of males.

Reach varies by country: a TikTok ad can potentially reach 50.3% of adults in the United States, or 130,962,500 people. Countries with the largest potential advertising audiences include the US, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico.

Learn more about advertising on TikTok here.

Source: Hootsuite Digital 2022 Report

19. TikTok’s perceived effectiveness is growing among marketers

As marketers consider where to invest their limited ad budgets, TikTok is making big gains. Hootsuite’s 2022 Social Trends Survey found that 24% of marketers considered TikTok effective for reaching their business goals, compared to just 3% in the previous year— a 700% increase.

It’s still ranking far behind the advertising juggernauts of Facebook and Instagram. However, both platforms saw a significant decrease in perceived effectiveness between 2020 and 2021: Facebook fell by 25%, and Instagram by a hefty 40%.

These changes indicate that the ad landscape is shifting, and brands need to adapt to meet their customers where they are on each platform. TikTok has growing communities for everything from books to fridge organization, allowing marketers to hone in on their audiences with appealing, targeted content.

20. Partnering with creators boosts view-through rates by 193%

Creators, the official influencers of the TikTok marketplace, are one of the greatest assets for brands on the platform. Brands can partner with over 100,000 creators through the TikTok Creator Marketplace to create content that reaches their target audiences. This benefits users as much as brands: 35% of users discover products and brands from creators, and 65% enjoy when creators post about products and brands.

In one case study, beauty brand Benefit Cosmetics partnered with creators for the Benefit Brow Challenge to promote their new Brow Microfilling Pen. The 22 resulting videos, made by Gen Z and Millennial creators, generated 1.4 million impressions and over 3500 hours of views.

21. TikTok is transforming shopping with the “infinite loop”

TikTok content has long had a powerful effect on users’ shopping habits. For evidence, look no further than the TikTok Feta Effect. But until recently, that influence was indirect: users would learn of a product through the app, then head elsewhere to make their purchase.

That all changed in August 2021, when TikTok and Shopify announced a new integration to allow in-app shopping.

But that change is bigger than just click-to-buy. TikTok sees the retail process as an infinite loop, not a marketing funnel. In other words, the journey doesn’t “end” with a purchase— it loops back on itself, with users posting about their purchase, offering feedback, and spreading awareness to their own family and friends. Following a purchase, one in four users has made a post about their new product, and one in five has made a tutorial video.

22. 67% of users say TikTok inspires them to shop— even when they weren’t planning to do so.

TikTok users like connecting with brands, with 73% reporting that they feel a deeper connection to companies they interact with on the platform.

TikTok’s own research into user behavior reveals their power of their influence over users’ shopping habits. Thirty-seven percent of users discover a product on the app and immediately want to buy it. And 29% have tried to buy something from the app, only to find it was already sold out— that’s the TikTok Feta Effect for you. No wonder the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt amassed over 7.4 billion views in 2021.

Learn more about TikTok Shopping.

23. The highest performing videos are between 21 and 34 seconds long

Videos in this sweet spot have a 1.6% lift in impressions— small, but significant. To hone your videos with precision and skill, check out our comprehensive video editing guide.

24. Adding captions increases impressions by 55.7%

Including text in your video is more than just a best practice for inclusive design. It also offers significant benefits compared to videos that don’t display captions or a call-to-action on screen.

Another growing trend on TikTok? Voice effects. TikTok’s text-to-speech feature creates an auto-generated voiceover of displayed text, in videos with the feature enabled. Videos captioned with #VoiceEffects had 160 billion views as of December 2021.

While voice-to-text is an exciting feature that increases the accessibility and reach of videos, a lot of users hate the voice. The takeaway is that brands should invest in quality captioning and voiceover to ensure their videos have maximum reach and appeal.