Telegram has been downloaded a billion times, according to analysts

According to analysts at Sensor Tower, chat app Telegram has been downloaded more than a billion times worldwide. Telegram has been around since 2013, but has grown considerably in recent years. The first half of 2021 would have accounted for 214.7 million installations.

Telegram is the 15th app to have passed the billion downloads, a Sensor Tower analyst told TechCrunch. Other apps on that list include WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Spotify and Netflix. Telegram itself does not disclose download figures, although the company said at the beginning of this year that there are more than 500 million active users.

India is the largest market for Telegram. Of all downloads, 22 percent come from that country. Then Russia and Indonesia follow with 10 and 8 percent, according to Sensor Tower. According to the analyst, Telegram was installed 214.7 million times in the first half of this year. That’s a 61 percent increase from the first half of last year, when the app was downloaded 133 million times. Telegram was the seventh most downloaded apps worldwide last year, says founder Pavel Durov.

Telegram has been around since 2013 and has grown considerably over the past few years. Earlier this year, the company raised $1 billion from investors. According to Durov, Telegram can continue to grow and remain independent. At the end of last year, Durov presented plans to ensure that the chat app generates revenue. Paid features and ads in channels should ensure that the service can remain free, with no ads in face-to-face or group conversations.

Growth of active Telegram users