On September 24, 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Instagram has reached 3 billion monthly active users. This is a major milestone for the platform and for Meta’s ambitions in the social media landscape.
In this article I’ll break down how Instagram got here, what’s driving growth, what challenges lie ahead, and what this shift means for creators, marketers, and everyday users.
How Instagram Reached 3 Billion
Growth trajectory
- Instagram passed the 2 billion monthly users mark in December 2021.
- In just under four years, it added another 1 billion users, reaching 3 billion by late 2025.
- Now Instagram joins the “3 billion club” alongside Meta’s other platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp.
That rate of growth is significant because sustaining momentum at this scale is hard. Early on, additions come faster; later, each new user is incremental.
What’s fueling the growth
Meta and Instagram leaders point to several product and engagement trends:
- Reels, recommendations, and algorithmic discovery are now core drivers. Instagram is pushing content from accounts users don’t already follow, based on inferred interests.
- Direct Messaging (DMs) has become a primary way users share content and engage. According to Mosseri, many of the new user additions are being driven through social messaging rather than pure public posts.
- Instagram is experimenting with giving users more control over what they see: toggling topics in recommendation algorithms, editing the bottom navigation to favor DMs, etc.
- Other feature upgrades help retention: a new iPad app release, better “Repost” tools, etc.
