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Rule number one for creating a great Instagram marketing campaign? Know your audience. This is where these demographic statistics from Instagram come into play.
You may already have a pretty good idea of who your followers are on the platform, but with these Instagram audience insights, you have the hard facts to prove it.
Understanding Instagram demographics will help you identify your target market, plan relevant content, increase engagement, and create successful social media campaigns. So let’s get to know the 2 billion monthly active users who might be viewing your brand’s Instagram account.
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Instagram age demographics
People of all ages use Instagram – teenagers, grandfathers, everyone is here. But there is definitely a concentration between the ages of 18 and 34. Millennials and Generation Z love the gram, it seems.
According to Statista, this is how the Instagram audience is broken down by age:
- 13-17 years old: 8%
- 18-24 years old: 30.8%
- 25-34 years old: 30.3%
- 35-44 years old: 15.7%
- 45-54 years old: 8.4%
- 55-64 years old: 4.3%
- 65+ years old: 2.6%
If you crunch these numbers at home, you may have noticed that almost 85% of Instagram's audience is under 45 years old. So, yes, Boomers and Generation Xers are represented here among the 2 billion Instagram users, but not in large numbers. If this is a target market for you, it may be better to refine your Facebook marketing strategy.
Source: Statista
At the other end of this spectrum, only 8% of Instagram users are teenagers. If reaching this audience is important to you, this may not be the best place to do it. (Although half of teens who are on Instagram use it at least once a day… and 10% say they visit Instagram “almost constantly.”)
While TikTok has a higher number of young users than Instagram, Insta remains the preferred social platform for users aged 16 to 34. GWI reports that 44.4% of female internet users in this age group rank Instagram as their favorite social app; 40.7% of male internet users agree.
Gender demographics on Instagram
The gender distribution of Instagram users is fairly even, which isn't always the case with social media platforms – for example, X (formerly Twitter) has an audience that is 63% male, while 76.2% of Pinterest Identify user as female.
Source: Statista
On Instagram, 51.8% of global users identify as female worldwide, while 48.2% identify as female – basically half. However, the gender distribution in the age groups is not uniform – among users aged 35 and over, for example, there are more women than men, and in the younger age groups, male users are at the forefront.
Interestingly, different countries have different gender distributions. In the US, for example, women make up a larger share of Instagram's user base – 56.9% of American Instagram users identify as women. In India, however, 73% of users are male. So the location of your audience influences how many male and how many female users are likely to view your content.
And if you're wondering where non-binary users fit into all of this, then so are we. Unfortunately, this information about men and women is currently the only gender data we have available. But when you look at the #nonbinary hashtag results on Instagram, it's clear that there's a thriving community of Instagram users who define their gender outside of these identities. Get 'em, Tiger!
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Instagram location demographics
Yes, yes, the Internet is a global village and we are all citizens of the metaverse or whatever, but the people who use the Internet must live somewhere on this earthly plane. So where in the world do most Instagram users live?
While Instagram reaches 2 billion users worldwide, when broken down by country, the largest regional audience is in India. (If you're holding a large foam finger that says “USA NUMBER 1,” then…I'm sorry for your loss.)
In fact, the United States is the second largest regional audience, but India is at the top by a wide margin: India has 223 million users, while the US had 143 million and counting. The runners-up from there? In third place is Brazil (113.5 million), followed by Indonesia (89.15 million) and Turkey (48.65 million).
India is part of one of Instagram's fastest-growing markets: in fact, Asia Pacific accounts for a third of all Instagram users.
Source: Statista
Interestingly, while Instagram is the second most visited social media platform in the country (Facebook is still No. 1 for Americans), it is not a major source of news for residents. Only 16% of U.S. adults regularly get their current events news from the app – a far lower number than those who say they get news from Facebook or YouTube.
Source: Pew Research
So if you want to connect with a US audience, it would be wise to keep things light and fresh. This is a platform where people come for entertainment, not news. Do you need creative content ideas? We'll cover you.
Instagram Income Demographics
They say it's rude to talk about money – but this is the Hootsuite blog! We are the “bad guys” of the social media marketing world and play by our own rules! Just try to stop us! Best with a big payout! Because we are not ashamed to talk about money, as already mentioned!
The most recent data we have on this is from 2021, so it's possible things have changed in the last few years, but according to Pew Research, only 35% of households with annual incomes under $30,000 use Instagram , while 47% of Instagram users have a household income of more than $75,000.
Take that away? Instagram audiences come from a wide range of financial backgrounds (at least in the US), but are slightly more likely to come from higher-income families. This makes it a premier avenue for e-commerce and sales. So perfect social media calls to action and explore Instagram Shopping.
Instagram educational demographics
Although Facebook was once famously available exclusively to college students (Mark! You rascal!), social media platforms are now open to almost anyone. It doesn't matter if you're currently in correspondence school or have a PhD from Harvard: Instagram is for you.
This is proven by the wide range of educational opportunities offered by Instagram users. According to 2021 data from Pew Research (again, not the most recent numbers, but we're working with what we have here), almost half of Instagram users are college graduates.
This is how it breaks down:
- 30% of Instagram users have a high school education or less
- 44% have a university education
- 49% of users are university graduates
Why doesn't this add up to 100%? Personally, I have a college degree and I think I should know this.
Your specific audience for your brand will likely lean one way or the other, but given the wide range of educational experiences on the platform, it's wise to keep the language understandable. Simple, clear, concise! Unlike the long, rambling sentence I just wrote!
Instagram regional demographics
Whether you live in a high-rise penthouse or live in a barn, if you have an internet connection, Instagram is always at your fingertips. But it turns out that the social media platform is mostly popular with urban and suburban residents – rural residents are less interested. (Perhaps too busy finding love on the FarmersOnly dating app?)
According to the same 2021 Pew Research survey:
- 45% of Instagram users live in urban areas
- 41% of Instagram users are suburbanites
- Only 25% of users live in rural areas
Knowing that Instagram's demographic is primarily in (or near!) city centers can help you determine the type of campaigns and endorsements you run. Like… uh… jokes about elevators?
Instagram cares about demographics
Trends on Instagram change over time. (That's why they're called “trends” and now “laws.”) In its 2024 trends report, Instagram identified fashion, beauty, wellness, finance, celebrities and lifestyle as the top interests of Gen Z users.
By taking a look at the top hashtags overall, we can take a look at the interests of Instagrammers as a group. #Fashion is the third most popular keyword (1.1 billion), followed by #Photography and #Art. #Nature and #Travel are both at the top of the list, suggesting that people enjoy sharing and viewing content from the wider world out there… so maybe getting outside every now and then? #Beauty, #Fitness and #Food also have a high priority. Check out our full list of the top 100 Instagram hashtags here.
In general, 50% of Instagram users enjoy seeing funny content on the app, while 46% enjoy creative Instagram posts. 41% like informative content, while 37% want relaxing Instagram content and 36% look for inspirational posts and stories. It's hard to disagree with any of these preferences… I mean, who would vote for “boring, ugly” content as their favorite thing to consume on the app?
Source: Statista
Would you like to learn even more interesting statistics about Instagram to put your next social media campaign in the right light? We have 35 insightful data points here. And if you're ready to actually dive in and start creating content for your well-defined Instagram audience, check out our ultimate guide to Instagram marketing.
Ready to put these Instagram stats into action? Start building your Instagram presence with Hootsuite. Schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage your audience, measure performance, and manage all your other social media profiles, all from one simple dashboard. Try it for free today.
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Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
