TikTok has overtaken Facebook: in China, in the US and in the world

That TikTok was a potential competitor to all the more established social media apps, Facebook included, it was immediately understood already in 2017, when the developer ByteDance launched the international version of the app that in China is called Douyin, it was launched in September 2016 and in a very short time it became the most downloaded app by teenagers Chinese.

That Facebook and the others had fear of TikTok it became clear as soon as the first short video clone functions arrived (Reels on Instagram, Shorts on YouTube and so on). Now, however, there are numbers to certify that the fears of the big names in the sector were completely justified and, moreover, they are given to end of 2020: TikTok was the most downloaded app in the world, more than Facebook, more than WhatsApp, more than Instagram and all the others. The data was put together by the prestigious Japanese news agency Nikkei Asia, they borrow the data from App Annie for the American market only and certify a huge leap forward in TikTok downloads which, in 2019, was only fourth.

The numbers of TikTok

Let us specify immediately one thing: the data published by Nikkei does not mean that already today TikTok has more users of Facebook or WhatsApp, but only that the app has been downloaded more times than its competitors in 2020. If this trends continues, however, inevitably shortly there will be overtaking also because in 2021 TikTok downloads increased, not decreased.

Having made this necessary premise, here are the most downloaded apps globally in 2020, according to Nikkei Asia:

1. TikTok
2. Facebook
3. WhatsApp
4. Instagram
5. Facebook Messenger
6. Snapchat
7. Telegram
8. Likee
9. Pinterest
10. Twitter

If we exclude downloads in China, however, in the rest of Asia Tiktok is second to Facebook. But it is the data for the only ones United States to make Facebook tremble:

1. TikTok
2. Facebook Messenger
3. Facebook
4. Instagram
5. Snapchat
6. WhatsApp
7. Discord
8. Pinterest
9. Twitter
10. Google Duo

Most downloaded apps: China is inviolable

Finally, it should also be noted that while Chinese apps are successful around the world, non-Chinese apps do not enter China. The Chinese app market, in fact, is practically armored and it is not in the top ten of the most downloaded apps in China no non-Chinese apps:

1. Douyn (TikTok)
2. WeChat
3. QQ
4. WeShow
5. RED
6. Weibo
7. Douyn Volcano Edition
8. Sogou Pinyin input Method
9. Zhihu
10. Soul

TikTok has overtaken Facebook: in China, in the US and in the world