Telegram has overtaken WhatsApp in terms of traffic in Russia

In 2022, the Telegram messenger for the first time overtook WhatsApp (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and banned) in terms of user traffic, reports Vedomosti with reference to the Big Four operators. According to them, by the beginning of 2023, Telegram’s share exceeded 60-80% of the total traffic.

A representative of VimpelCom (Beeline brand) said that the volume of WhatsApp traffic is stable, “there is neither growth nor fall.” According to him, the volume of Telegram traffic in 2022 exceeded that of the American messenger and grew by 68% year-on-year in the first two weeks of January.

The representative of MTS said that the share of Telegram is about 80%, and in terms of user activity it bypasses WhatsApp. The company clarified that in terms of the number of users, WhatsApp is ahead of other instant messengers.

According to MegaFon, Telegram has maintained its leading position in traffic since March 2022. Over the last two weeks of December, its share in the total traffic in messengers reached 61%, in WhatsApp – 28%. In January, the share of Telegram was already 62% against 27% for WhatsApp, the representative of the operator specified.

Tele2 said that Telegram has not yet overtaken WhatsApp and ranks second in terms of the number of users. “But Telegram is the fastest growing messenger: over the year, its audience among Tele2 subscribers has increased by almost 50%,” the company representative specified.

According to Mediascope statistics, by the beginning of January, the Telegram audience had doubled year-on-year, to almost 48.8 million users. This represents about 40% of all Internet users in the country. The growth of the audience for the year amounted to 5 million people.

In March 2022, the social networks Instagram and Facebook owned by Meta were recognized as extremist in Russia due to statements distributed in them calling for violence against Russians, but WhatsApp was not subject to restrictions. In June, the Ministry of Digital reportedthat the share of Telegram’s mobile traffic has more than doubled and exceeded 6%.

Laura Keffer