Instagram Demographics

What You Need to Know About Instagram Demographics and Its Growth  

Instagram is not new in terms of social media. The platform has been around since 2010, meaning that it is a stalwart in the social media space. Even so, it seems that many users and marketers aren’t quite certain who specifically is using Instagram regularly.

Most of us probably know someone who uses Instagram, and many of us are users ourselves. It turns out that Instagram is the 7th most visited website in the world, having more than 2 billion visitors every month. 

With all of that activity, it seems reasonable that people would do a deep dive into the demographic breakdown of who is using Instagram and why. We are going to take a look at some of those statistics for you today. 

Instagram Skews Younger 

There is certainly a very real tilt towards the younger demographic on Instagram, but perhaps not as young as we are sometimes led to believe. Some believe that the place is simply full of teenagers posting about what they had for breakfast or making memes and jokes back and forth. However, the largest age group using the service is actually 25–34-year-olds.  

Here is how the age demographics break down: 

  • 13-17 years old: 8.5% 
  • 18-24 years old: 30.1% 
  • 25-34 years old: 31.5% 
  • 35-44 years old: 16.1% 
  • 45-54 years old: 8% 
  • 55-64 years old: 3.6% 
  • 65+ years old: 2.1% 

As projected above, a large majority of the people who use Instagram are under 35 years of age (70.1% of the total). Thus, most marketing efforts made on this service should primarily focus on that age demographic.  

However, marketers should keep in mind that the largest share of users are in the 25-34 age range, so certain marketing attempts may not translate well if they are geared towards an audience that is younger than that. 

Instagram is Going Vertical 

With a wide selection of content types to choose from, it’s good to know which ones are preferred by the users we’ve mentioned above. 

We have found that Instagram is widely going vertical with consumers considering short-form video content to be 2.5x more engaging compared to images posted on the channel. Also, 66% of consumers report short-form video to be the most engaging type of social media content in 2022, up from 50% in 2020. 

On a recent article we posted, we have included Reels to be a primary content king dominating Instagram. One effective way to keep up with the Instagram algorithm: go vertical.  

Instagram Has Staying Power 

Some observers viewed Instagram as a flash in the pan that would likely sizzle and then quickly burn out, but that is not at all what happened. Instead, Instagram has found staying power and even growth. 

The company has been somewhat quiet about its growth numbers given the increased pressure from lawmakers on certain social media outlets. They don’t necessarily want to draw extra attention and criticism from those who would like to break them up or shut them down. Instead, the company quietly doubled its user base in the last four years. 

Instagram hasn’t made its user numbers public since it crossed the 1 billion monthly active users mark in June 2018. It has avoided touting its growth at a time when legislators and regulators already see Facebook as having outsized market control. But with its constant reinforcement of feature updates, we think Instagram is here to stay.  

Additionally, this is the kind of statistic that is sure to draw the attention of marketers of all kinds, and rightfully so. Instagram is not a joke, and it cannot be ignored by those who want to make serious inroads with all different types of customers. Failure to reach those who are on such a popular social media outlet is not acceptable. 

The Bottom Line for Marketers 

Perhaps the most important takeaway regarding the information available to the public about Instagram is that the network is still growing, even if it’s not touting those numbers as much as it might have in previous years. This network should not be overlooked and forgotten. Marketers must be creative to get their messages out to the right people on Instagram, but the upside of doing so is significant.  

At Ignite Social Media, we help you create lasting-impression through our innovative social media marketing solutions — helping you ensure you are at first of your audiences’ feed.   

Contact us today to learn more about how we can make that happen. 



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