Instagram beats TikTok user growth for the first time in 4 years

According to data from Sensor Tower, Instagram surpassed TikTok in new app downloads last year for the first time since 2020, making it the most downloaded app globally.

In 2023, Instagram downloads grew 20% compared to TikTok’s 4% growth, thanks partly to Meta’s popular TikTok-like short video platform Reels.

Instagram’s growth also comes at a time when TikTok is under growing pressure both from UMG and the National Music Publishers Association after they decided not to renew their licensing deals and a new bipartisan bill before Congress that could force TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell the platform.

“Instagram has outperformed TikTok in adoption over the past few years, driven by the popularity of its Reels feature and legacy social media features and functions,” Abraham Yousef of Sensor Tower told the Financial Times.

Get the full Sensor Tower report here.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.