X (Previously Twitter) is a real-time microblogging platform, publicly launched in July 2006. At launch, its defining features were the tight limits placed on each post, known at a tweet. Originally, users could only use 140 characters, although that has been elongated over the years.
Formed by former Odeo employees Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams and Biz Stone, the site originally used SMS to send tweets onto the network. It received its first boost of users at SXSW 2007, when the founders showed all the tweets hitting the network in real-time.
From there, Twitter grew out its userbase to reach over 300 million monthly active users. It added new features, but for the most part has retained the same look and feel of early Twitter, much to the chagrin of shareholders who wanted Twitter to be more competitive with Facebook.
Twitter branched out into other areas of innovation, such as short-video with Vine and live-video with Periscope, but both were cancelled by the company. Some have argued that Twitter mismanaged both projects, as Vine came well before Music.ly and TikTok, but was unable to capture the market which was clearly there for the taking.
This may be partly due to the management of Twitter during that period, which included founder Jack Dorsey, then founder Evan Williams, then shortly after that Dick Costolo, followed by another turn by Dorsey. During the second go, Dorsey was also CEO at Block Inc, which led to complaints from shareholders and even a lawsuit.
In 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, after months of back and forth between the company and Musk haggling the price. Musk let go of over half of Twitter’s staff, opened up the verified platform to all members through a monthly subscription and in 2023 changed the name of the company to X.
Musk has aims of making X a super-app, in the vein of WeChat in China. In this new app, users will have video and voice call options, messaging, mini-programs, and payment services. He has also unbanned a lot of banned for life accounts, such as Kanye West and ex-President Donald Trump.
The changes spooked advertisers, which left the platform en-masse in 2023 causing a drop of more than 50 percent in advertising revenues. It has also brought about a whole host of X-alternatives, which include Instagram’s Threads. In 2025, some of these brands returned, possibly as a show of support to the guy with President’s ear.
We have collected data and statistics on Twitter. Read on below to find out more. Want to dive deeper? Check out the social app report.
X Key Statistics
- X generated $2.5 billion revenue in 2024, an 13.7% decline year-on-year
- 68% of X’s revenue came from advertising in 2024
- X has 388 million monthly active users, losing 33 million users
- About 14% of X’s userbase is based in the United States
- Elon Musk is the most followed account on X
Want to learn more about the social app industry? Our Social App Report includes financials, users, installs, demographics and benchmarks of the top social apps.
Social App Report 2025
X Overview
| Title 1 | Title 2 |
|---|---|
| Launch date | 21 March 2006 |
| HQ | San Francisco, California |
| People | Elon Musk (Chairman), Linda Yaccarino (CEO), Jack Dorsey (co-founder) |
| Business type | Private |
| Owner | Elon Musk |
| Industry | Social networking |
X Revenue
X generated $2.5 billion revenue in 2024, a 13.7% decrease on 2023 figures.
X revenue 2012 to 2025 ($bn)
X revenue 2012 to 2024 ($bn)
| Year | Revenue ($bn) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.3 |
| 2013 | 0.6 |
| 2014 | 1.4 |
| 2015 | 2.2 |
| 2016 | 2.5 |
| 2017 | 2.4 |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2019 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | 3.7 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 4.4 |
| 2023 | 2.9 |
| 2024 | 2.5 |
Sources: Bloomberg, Company data, Social App Report
X Revenue by Segment
Advertising revenues have plummeted over the past two years, and its subscription and data licensing side has not been able to make up for that loss.
X revenue by segment 2015 to 2024 ($bn)
| Year | Advertising |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 1.9 |
| 2016 | 2.2 |
| 2017 | 2.1 |
| 2018 | 2.6 |
| 2019 | 2.9 |
| 2020 | 3.2 |
| 2021 | 4.5 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 2.3 |
| 2024 | 1.7 |
Source: Social App Report, Company data
X Revenue by Region
Even though only about 14% of X’s users come from the US, it is responsible for more than 50% of the company’s revenues.
X revenue by region 2018 to 2024 ($bn)
| Year | United States | Rest of World |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| 2019 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| 2020 | 2 | 1.6 |
| 2021 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
| 2022 | 2.4 | 2 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| 2024 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
Source: Company data
X Profit
X has not reported its net income since going private, although we suspect it has remained unprofitable due to large loan paybacks.
X net profit / loss 2012 to 2021 ($mm)
| Year | Net profit / loss ($mm) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | -79 |
| 2013 | -645 |
| 2014 | -577 |
| 2015 | -521 |
| 2016 | -456 |
| 2017 | -108 |
| 2018 | 1206 |
| 2019 | 1466 |
| 2020 | -1136 |
| 2021 | -221 |
Source: Company data, The Information
X Users
X had an estimated 388 million monthly active users in 2024 and about 200 million daily actives.
X users 2017 to 2025 (mm)
X users 2017 to 2024 (mm)
| Year | Users (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 40 |
| 2011 | 85 |
| 2012 | 151 |
| 2013 | 218 |
| 2014 | 271 |
| 2015 | 304 |
| 2016 | 313 |
| 2017 | 310 |
| 2018 | 298 |
| 2019 | 312 |
| 2020 | 347 |
| 2021 | 362 |
| 2022 | 401 |
| 2023 | 421 |
| 2024 | 388 |
Source: Social App Report, Company data
X Users by Region
Both US and international users declined in 2024, although there were bursts of increased usage.
X users by region 2017 to 2024 (mm)
| Year | United States | Rest of World |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 72 | 238 |
| 2018 | 66 | 232 |
| 2019 | 66 | 246 |
| 2020 | 70 | 277 |
| 2021 | 66 | 296 |
| 2022 | 63 | 305 |
| 2023 | 65 | 356 |
| 2024 | 58 | 330 |
Source: Company data
X Age Demographics
X has a near parity between the age brackets of 18 to 44 years old, with 35-44 the highest age bracket by a slight margin.
X age demographics 2024 (%)
| Age bracket | Percentage of users |
|---|---|
| 13-17 | 2 |
| 18-24 | 32.1 |
| 25-34 | 37.5 |
| 35-49 | 21.1 |
| 50+ | 7.3 |
Source: Hootsuite and We Are Social
X Gender Demographics
X has one of the highest gender disparities out of all social networks, with 68.5% of all users being male.
X gender demographics 2024 (%)
| Gender | Percentage of users |
|---|---|
| Male | 63.4 |
| Female | 36.6 |
Source: Hootsuite and We Are Social
Most Followed X Accounts
The swing over the past year in most followed accounts is interesting, while accounts like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga have been flat or declined by a few million, Elon Musk and Donald Trump have increased.
Most followed X accounts 2025 (mm)
| Account | Followers (mm) |
|---|---|
| @ElonMusk | 218 |
| @barackobama | 130 |
| @cristiano | 114 |
| @justinbieber | 109 |
| @rihanna | 108 |
| @katyperry | 105 |
| @narendramodi | 105 |
| @realDonaldTrump | 101 |
| @taylorswift13 | 94 |
| @NASA | 84 |
| @ladygaga | 82 |
Note: As of February 2025. Source: Company data
Social App Market Landscape
The social app category is one of the most popular app categories, with 10% of all downloads being of social apps. Twitter is one of the most popular microblogging apps available. You can download this map as a PDF, which includes a landscape version for presentations.
X vs Competitors: Users
X is on the lower side when it comes to active users, far behind Facebook and others.
Social app active users 2024 (bn)
Want to learn more about social apps? Check out our Social App Report
X FAQ
When did Elon Musk buy Twitter?
Elon Musk bought Twitter on October 27 2022 for $44 billion
How many Americans use X as a data source?
12 percent of Americans use it as a data source, according to Pew Research Center
How much X usage is mobile?
80% of Twitter usage happens on mobile devices (Google)
How many Twitter users in India?
There are 65 million Twitter users in India, according to App Annie
How much do the top 10% of Twitter users contribute?
In the US, top 10 percent of tweeters contribute 92 percent of tweets in 2020, up from 80 percent in 2018 (Pew Research Center)
More Social App Data
- TikTok Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- Reddit Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- BeReal Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- Snapchat Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- LinkedIn Usage and Revenue Statistics (2026)
- Bluesky Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- Threads Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- WeChat Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- Instagram Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
- Social App Revenue and Usage Statistics (2026)
