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TikTok User Age, Gender, & Demographics (2024)

by Josh Howarth
January 12, 2024

Since launching in 2016, TikTok has rapidly grown in popularity, reaching an estimated 834 million users.

The short-form video hosting service’s popularity isn’t in question. But what demographics does the app appeal to? And is the app really for an exclusively young audience?

We’ll explore these questions and more below:

Contents

TikTok Demographic Data (Key Statistics)

  • 1 in 4 TikTok users are under 20 years old
  • TikTok has more Gen Z users than Instagram
  • The majority of TikTok creators are aged 18 to 24
  • 57% of TikTok users are female
  • The US has the largest TikTok audience (over 135 million)
  • Almost 90% of Saudi Arabian adults use TikTok
  • The average age of the top 10 TikTok creators is 24 years old
  • Each of 2021’s top seven TikTok earners was 25 years old or younger

TikTok Users by Age

The largest proportion (25%) of US TikTok users are 10 to 19 years of age. In fact, 47.4% of TikTok users are under 30.

The share of TikTok users decreases in size as age groups advance. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those aged 50+ make up the smallest share of TikTok users at just 11%.

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Here’s a breakdown of TikTok users by age:

Age Group Proportion of US TikTok Users
10-19 years 25%
20-29 years 22.4%
30-39 years 21.7%
40-49 years 20.3%
50+ 11%

The social media platform’s appeal to a young audience has taken TikTok above Instagram in terms of popularity among Gen Z users.

Here’s a look at projected Gen Z TikTok users versus Instagram and Snapchat from 2019 to 2025:

Year TikTok Instagram Snapchat
2019 19.8 million 26.1 million 33.7 million
2020 29.5 million 29.5 million 38.1 million
2021 37.3 million 37.3 million 42 million
2022 41.4 million 41.4 million 44.5 million
2023 45 million 45 million 47 million
2024 48.3 million 48.3 million 49.6 million
2025 48.8 million 48.8 million 49.5 million

Sources: Backlinko, eMarketer

TikTok Users by Gender

As of the latest data (January 2022), the majority of TikTok users are female (57%). And 43% are male.

tiktok-female-users-min.webp

In a similar vein, the majority of TikTok creators are also female (53.79%). While 46.21% are male.

Split by age, the single largest group of TikTok users is female 18-24 year-olds (23.8%).

On the other end of the spectrum, male 55+ year-olds are the smallest group (1.7%).

Age Group Proportion of TikTok Users
Female Male
18-24 years 23.8% 17.9%
25-34 years 17.1% 13.9%
35-44 years 7.2% 6.1%
45-54 years 3.7% 3%
55+ years 2.4% 1.7%

Source: DataReportal

TikTok Users by Region

The US has the single largest TikTok audience with over 135 million users.

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That’s approximately 38% more than second-placed Indonesia’s 99 million users.

Rank Country TikTok Audience 2022
1 United States 136.42 million
2 Indonesia 99.07 million
3 Brazil 73.58 million
4 Russia 51.3 million
5 Mexico 50.52 million
6 Vietnam 45.82 million
7 Philippines 40.36 million
8 Thailand 38.38 million
9 Turkey 28.68 million
10 Pakistan 24.05 million

Looking at TikTok penetration by nation, Saudi Arabia leads the way with around 9 in 10 (87.9%) over 18s using the social media app.

That’s almost 6x the global average of 15.9%.

TikTok's penetration in the US is now above the 50% mark (50.3%). In total, 14 recorded nations have a penetration rate above 50%.

And 9 of the top 10 countries by TikTok penetration rate are located in Asia, with Chile (9th) being the sole exception.

Rank Country TikTok Penetration
1 Saudi Arabia 87.9%
2 United Arab Emirates 81.3%
3 Kuwait 75.4%
4 Thailand 63.6%
5 Qatar 62.1%
6 Malaysia 61.2%
7 Cambodia 61%
8 Chile 57.5%
9 Kazakhstan 57.1%
10 Vietnam 55.6%

In terms of growing markets, Singapore has seen the largest increase (74%) in hours spent on TikTok between 2020 and 2021.

From the available data, two other nations (Indonesia - 67%, Russia - 51%) have seen a higher-than-global average (48%) annual increase in TikTok hours.

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The US experienced an increase of 19% in hours per month spent on TikTok last year.

Rank Country Year-Over-Year Growth
1 Singapore 74%
2 Indonesia 67%
3 Russia 51%
- Worldwide 48%
4 Brazil 44%
5 Australia 40%
=6 Mexico 37%
=6 United Kingdom 37%
8 Turkey 35%
9 Canada 32%
10 Argentina 29%

Sources: DataReportal, Data.ai

Looking at TikTok creator ages, figures are skewed towards a younger demographic.

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Young adults (18-24 years) make up over half of the creators (52.83%). While under 18s make up a comparatively low 27.47%.

Age Group Proportion of TikTok Creators
Under 13s 8.7%
13-17 years 18.67%
18-24 years 52.83%
25-34 years 15.03%
35-44 years 2.75%
45-54 years 1.65%
55+ years 0.36%

As of July 2023, Khabane Lame is the most-followed TikTok creator with over 160 million followers.

Charli D’Amelio is the only other creator with upwards of 100 million followers at the time of writing. At 19, she is also the youngest creator to crack the top 10.

Zach King (33) is one of just three top 10 creators aged 30 or above

In total, 10 of the top 15 are at least partially American.

Rank Creator TikTok Handle Age Nationality Followers Likes
1 Khabane Lame @khaby.lame 23 Senegalese-Italian 161 million 2.4 billion
2 Charli D'Amelio @charlidamelio 19 American 151.8 million 11.5 billion
3 Bella Poarch @bellapoarch 26 Filipino-American 93.9 million 2.3 billion
4 Jimmy Donaldson @mrbeast 25 American 92.6 million 0.9 billion
5 Addison Rae @addisonraee 23 American 88.7 million 5.8 billion
6 Zach King @zachking 33 American 80.6 million 1.1 billion
7 Kimberly Loaiza @kimberly.loaiza 26 Mexican 80.6 million 5.1 billion
8 Burak Özdemir @cznburak 29 Turkish 74.6 million 1.5 billion
9 Dwayne Johnson @therock 51 American 74.1 million 0.53 billion
10 Will Smith @willsmith 54 American 74.2 million 0.54 billion
11 Dominik Robledo @domelipa 22 Mexican 71.9 million 4.5 billion
12 BTS @bts_official_bighit 26-31 South Korean 63.9 million 1.3 billion
13 Selena Gomez @selenagomez 31 American 59.1 million 0.62 billion
14 Jason Derulo @jasonderulo 34 American 58.1 million 1.3 billion
15 Dixie D'Amelio @dixiedamelio 22 American 56.6 million 3.3 billion

* As of Jan 12, 2024

2021 data for the top earners on TikTok reveals that Charli D'Amelio made approximately $17.5 million that year. Sister Dixie ranked second with $10 million.

Combined ($27.5 million), the D'Amelios out-earned the rest of the top seven ($23.05 million).

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In total, 3 teenagers made up the top seven TikTok earners in 2021. And the average age came in at just under 21 years old.

All the listed creators are either American (5) or Canadian (2).

Rank Creator TikTok Handle Age* Nationality Earnings 2021
1 Charli D'Amelio @charlidamelio 17 American $17.5 million
2 Dixie D'Amelio @dixiedamelio 20 American $10 million
3 Addison Rae @addisonraee 21 American $8.5 million
=4 Bella Poarch @bellapoarch 24 Filipino-American $5 million
=4 Josh Richards @joshrichards 19 Canadian $5 million
=6 Kris Collins @kallmekris 25 Canadian $4.75 million
=6 Avani Gregg @avani 19 American $4.75 million

* As of December 31, 2021

Sources: weCreate, Social Blade, Forbes

Conclusion

It’s fair to say that TikTok’s global appeal has permeated several age groups and regions.

Nonetheless, there is a clear preference among younger users. And creators are similarly young.

The only question is whether this trend will persist as TikTok continues to gain users in the coming years.

For more TikTok-related data, take a look at these posts: Top TikTok Trends and Important Social Media Trends.