As of early 2025, the total global monthly users of WeChat officially surpassed 1.402 billion. This includes both domestic and international versions, making it one of the biggest apps in the world. But who are these users and what do they use WeChat for?
Key Takeaways:
- WeChat’s global user base exceeds 1.4 billion (monthly active users).
- The platform’s largest user group is now aged 51 and above, indicating the rise of the “silver economy.”
- The gender distribution remains balanced, with 53% male and 47% female.
- Tier 4 cities (and below) now rival top-tier urban centers in user count.
- Businesses can activate WeChat Official Accounts, Ads, Channels, and Mini Programs based on these WeChat user demographics.
This global user base of 1.402 billion is nearly equivalent to the entire population of China (1.416 billion), which means that WeChat now serves around 17% of the world’s population (8.232 billion).
With such a large and growing user base, WeChat has become a dynamic information and traffic hub with huge international influence.
These are the people using WeChat in 2025.
Demographics
The following user demographic data on age, gender, and city tier is sourced from the KAWO 2025 China Social Media Landscape Guide.
Age Distribution
While WeChat remains popular among younger users, the platform has seen a significant rise in older users thanks to the growth of the “silver economy” and nationwide digital accessibility initiatives.
Distribution:
- Under 24: 22.3%
- 25–30: 13.7%
- 31–40: 22%
- 41–50: 19.2%
- 51+: 22.8%
Gender Distribution
Despite a three percent difference, the gender distribution overall remains balanced:
- Male: 53%
- Female: 47%
City Tier Distribution
Tier 4 cities (and below) are now catching up with places like Shanghai, Beijing, and Hangzhou when it comes to the number of users:
- Tier 1/New Tier 1 (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen): 33.1%
- Tier 2 (Fast-growing major cities such as Hangzhou and Chengdu): 19.3%
- Tier 3 (Mid-sized regional hubs with expanding economies): 21%
- Tier 4/Below (Smaller cities with lower GDP but rapidly rising digital adoption): 26.6%
How WeChat Users Use the App
Since its 2011 launch, WeChat has grown from just a messaging app into a multifunctional “super app/platform” that covers a wide range of use cases.
Core Use Cases Include:
Social: Text chat, voice messages, and Moments sharing.
WeChat chat interface
Information: WeChat official account articles, WeChat Channels content.
Genie WeChat Official Account post
Payments/Transactions: Use WeChat Pay to send red packets, hail taxis, order food, and purchase goods.
WeChat Pay interface
Work/Learning: WeCom, group assignments, and video meetings.
WeCom customer service chat
Entertainment: Mini Games and livestreaming.
WeChat Mini Games interface
We recently conducted a small survey with 108 participants, asking which WeChat feature they use most. The results showed the most-used feature is WeChat messaging, followed by WeChat Pay and Moments.
By continuously offering new features and updating existing ones, WeChat increases user retention and app usage time, while capturing more market share.
According to recent news reports, the company saw a 19% year-on-year increase in gross profit in 2024, reaching 349.2 billion RMB. This growth was driven by strong high-margin revenue streams in gaming, WeChat Channels, WeChat Search, and Mini Games.
What Can Businesses Do on WeChat?
1. Launch a WeChat Official Account
According to data from a CommNow Zhihu article:
- There were over 20 million Official Accounts on WeChat (in 2023).
- Each user followed around 20 WeChat Official Accounts on average.
- A study of public WeChat data from 300 B2B companies revealed that 89% had launched and actively operated their own Official Account.
WeChat Official Accounts allow businesses to publish branded content, boost brand visibility, engage in content marketing, and drive traffic to campaigns or services.
WeChat subscription and service message folders
2. Run WeChat Ads
WeChat offers a variety of ad formats:
- Moments ads
- Official Account banner ads
- WeChat Search ads
- WeChat Channels ads
WeChat Ads cover over 80% of its user base. Although the cost is generally higher than on other platforms, the conversion rate is stable, and the required budget is relatively low. This makes it suitable for long-term brand building.
GB Group WeChat Moments ad (with video)
To ensure their WeChat Ads reach their intended audience, companies can also filter potential users based on user profiles and behavioral tags in WeChat’s backend.
However, due to industry limitations and regulations, not all businesses are allowed to run WeChat Ads. If you’re unsure about your industry or niche, you can use our free advertising eligibility checker.
Audience targeting filters in the WeChat Ads backend
3. Provide Customer Service via WeChat
By linking your WeChat Official Account or WeChat Mini Program to a customer service system—or integrating WeCom—you can offer users a seamless experience from brand discovery to inquiry, purchase, and post-sale support.
Lizenzero’s customer service interface (WeChat Official Account)
4. Use WeChat Channels
According to 2025 data, daily active users on WeChat Channels have exceeded 800 million.
This short video and livestreaming feature was designed to compete with Bilibili, Rednote, Douyin, and Kuaishou. In just three years, it has matched or even surpassed platforms like Bilibili and Kuaishou in certain metrics.
WeChat Channels covers scenarios such as
- short videos,
- livestream e-commerce (note: livestreaming is still limited for foreign hosts), and
- native content ads.
Video watch time on WeChat Channels is approaching that of Douyin in China. For businesses, the key strength is integration with WeChat Official Accounts, enabling two-way traffic, which is especially useful for B2B lead generation.
Samtec’s WeChat Channels profile linked to their Official Account
5. Launch a WeChat Mini Program
- WeChat Mini Programs users: 949 million
- Monthly average usage time (per user): 1.7 hours
- Monthly average usage frequency: Nearly 70 times
- Mini Programs with one million users: 14.1%
Mini Programs serve a wide range of scenarios—from food delivery and ride-hailing to searching for information and phone bill payments. Many brands have launched their own Mini Programs, greatly boosting user retention and traffic.
Meituan WeChat Mini Program homepage
Some companies also use Mini Programs as a lightweight alternative to a corporate website, offering product displays, online purchasing, customer support, white paper downloads, and membership systems.
6. Explore Other Features
WeChat has also introduced several special tools:
- Custom red packet covers (popular during Chinese New Year)
- Group livestreaming (ideal for communities or educational use)
- Custom menus, auto-replies, membership cards, and more
Custom WeChat red packet cover by NanJingMarketingGroup in 2021
Conclusion
With the average user spending two hours a day on the app, and 45 billion messages and 410 million audio/video calls being sent and made daily in China alone, WeChat is truly an indispensable part of life.
Given its enormous scale, WeChat may have already become the world’s sixth most popular app.
Most popular social networks worldwide as of February 2025, by number of monthly active users (in millions) – Statista
WeChat is a platform full of opportunities, and the gold rush is already underway. The question is: Are you ready to join? If you are, we’re ready to help. Contact us to get started.