Tencent’s 2025 results, released March 18, 2026, place combined Weixin and WeChat monthly active users at 1,418 million as of December 31, 2025, up 2% year-on-year. The same filing reports Marketing Services revenue of RMB 145.0 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2025, up 19% year-on-year, outpacing the FinTech and Business Services segment’s 8% growth to RMB 229.4 billion. Those three figures reframe WeChat for 2026 as a super-app whose ad engine is expanding faster than its payments engine.
Weixin Pay exceeded 1 billion average commercial transactions per day as of the third quarter of 2025, according to Tencent, and Mini Programs facilitated over 8 trillion in gross merchandise value during 2024. The numbers below cover users, payments, advertising, demographics, market share, and the United States legal posture for one of the world’s most-used super-apps.
Key Takeaways
- Combined MAU of Weixin and WeChat reached 1,418 million at the end of Q4 2025, a 2% year-on-year increase from 1,385 million.
- Over 810 million WeChat users reside in mainland China, where the app integrates messaging, payments, transit, and government services.
- Mini Programs reached approximately 945 million monthly active users with approximately 4.3 million registered programs available.
- Tencent’s FY2025 Marketing Services revenue grew 19% year-on-year to RMB 145.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2025.
- WeChat Pay processed an estimated RMB 2.2 trillion (approximately $320 billion) in merchant payments during 2025.
- Approximately 93.6% of online adults globally use chat apps and messenger platforms like WhatsApp and WeChat each month.
- Alipay holds approximately 53% of China’s mobile payment market share, with WeChat Pay at approximately 42%, and together the two platforms control over 90% of mobile payment transactions in China.
Editor’s Choice
- WeChat users spend approximately 82 minutes per day in the app.
- WeChat users send approximately 45 billion messages and place approximately 410 million audio and video calls daily.
- WeChat Pay serves approximately 935 million monthly active users in China.
- Marketing Services revenue was RMB 41.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025, up 17% year-on-year.
- Mini Games engaged over 500 million monthly active users as of Q1 2024 as the largest casual game platform in China.
- WeChat users upload approximately 68 million videos daily.
- Total video subscriptions reached 114 million.
WeChat Statistics: Monthly Active Users
- Tencent’s audited 2025 annual results, released March 18, 2026, report combined monthly active users of Weixin and WeChat at 1,418 million for Q4 2025, up 2% year-on-year.
- Q4 2024 baseline: 1,385 million combined MAU; Q3 2025: 1,414 million combined MAU.
- Q4 2025 growth reflects steady-state expansion at the smartphone-internet penetration ceiling.
DataReportal’s Digital 2026 Mid-Year Global Update Report tracks WeChat and Weixin together at approximately 1.414 billion combined monthly active accounts as of September 2025, a figure consistent with Tencent’s Q3 2025 disclosure. The two apps are counted as one user base, according to Tencent, because Weixin (the China-market version) and WeChat (the international version) share infrastructure but operate under separate regulatory regimes.
| Metric | Q4 2025 | Q4 2024 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combined Weixin + WeChat MAU (millions) | 1,418 | 1,385 | +2.0% |
| Mobile device MAU of QQ (millions) | 508 | 524 | -3.0% |
| Fee-based VAS subscriptions (millions) | 267 | 262 | +2.0% |
Source: Tencent Holdings Limited, FY2025 Annual and Fourth Quarter Results, March 18, 2026
Tencent’s e-commerce and content platforms both hang off this user base, so even modest growth at the top compounds across Mini Programs, Video Accounts, and Pay.
WeChat Pay and Mini Program Transactions
For broader Chinese rail comparisons, the UnionPay card network still anchors institutional and card-rail activity that WeChat Pay does not directly compete for, while WeChat Pay handles the consumer mobile-payment layer.
Recent Developments
- March 18, 2026: Tencent released audited 2025 annual results showing combined Weixin and WeChat MAU of 1,418 million for Q4 2025 and full-year Marketing Services revenue of RMB 145.0 billion.
- December 22, 2025: Tencent’s Q3 2025 Corporate Overview disclosed Weixin Pay handling over 1 billion average commercial transactions per day and Mini Programs facilitating over 8 trillion GMV in 2024.
- November 15, 2025: Industry analysts at TechBuzz China reported WeChat Mini Shop GMV grew approximately 4.3 times year-on-year in 2025 with promoter-driven GMV up more than 100%.
- September 25, 2025: The White House issued an executive order extending non-enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for an additional 120 days, applied specifically to TikTok and not authorizing enforcement actions against WeChat.
- June 24, 2025: A Research and Markets report estimated Alipay at approximately 53% and WeChat Pay at approximately 42% of China’s mobile payment market, with both platforms accepted in more than 20 countries.
- April 15, 2026: Business of Apps published refreshed WeChat statistics showing approximately 945 million Mini Programs monthly active users and approximately 4.3 million registered programs.
WeChat Mini Programs and the Super-App Ecosystem
Mini Programs are the lever that turned WeChat from a messaging app into a super-app. WeChat Mini Programs reached approximately 945 million monthly active users with approximately 4.3 million programs available across categories including retail, food delivery, transportation, and government services. Mini Programs facilitated over 8 trillion in gross merchandise value during 2024, a figure Tencent disclosed in its Q3 2025 corporate overview.
The Mini Program surface in headline figures:
- 945 million Mini Programs monthly active users (2025).
- 4.3 million registered Mini Programs across retail, food delivery, transportation, and government categories.
- RMB 8 trillion gross merchandise value facilitated in 2024.
- 500 million monthly active users on Mini Games as of Q1 2024.
- 4.3x year-on-year Mini Shop GMV growth in 2025.
By the numbers: WeChat Mini Shop GMV grew approximately 4.3 times year-on-year in 2025, gross merchandise value per 1,000 impressions rose to over RMB 1,200 (about 1.5 times the previous year), and promoter-driven GMV climbed more than 100% year-on-year, per TechBuzz China’s analysis of Tencent earnings commentary.
WeChat Mini Shop GMV grew approximately 4.3 times year-on-year in 2025, gross merchandise value per 1,000 impressions rose to over RMB 1,200 (about 1.5 times the previous year), and promoter-driven GMV grew by more than 100% year-on-year in 2025. Mini Games is the largest casual game platform in China, engaging over 500 million monthly active users as of the first quarter of 2024. Closed-loop ads now drive Tencent’s advertising pricing power.
Tencent Advertising and Marketing Services Revenue
WeChat Users by Country (Global Distribution)
WeChat Demographics and User Behavior
WeChat’s user base skews young, urban, and overwhelmingly mobile. Approximately 33.5% of WeChat users are 24 years old or younger, representing the largest single age cohort on the platform. Approximately 25% of WeChat users fall in the 25 to 30 age range. Combined, those two cohorts cover roughly 58% of all users, a tilt that explains why Mini Games and Video Accounts have outpaced traditional Moments-based ad inventory.
Demographic and behavioral figures at a glance:
- 33.5% of WeChat users are 24 or younger (largest single cohort).
- 25% of users fall in the 25 to 30 age band.
- 52% / 48% male-female split as of 2025.
- 82 minutes average daily time spent in the app.
- 60% of users open the app more than 10 times per day.
- 21% of users open the app more than 50 times per day.
Key finding: Per industry tracker DemandSage’s 2026 analysis, approximately 33.5% of WeChat users are 24 years old or younger, 25% sit in the 25 to 30 bracket, and the gender split runs roughly 52% male to 48% female as of 2025.
The gender split runs roughly 52% male and 48% female as of 2025. Over 60% of WeChat users open the app more than 10 times per day, and 21% open it more than 50 times per day. WeChat users spend approximately 82 minutes per day in the app.
WeChat Pay vs Alipay: China Mobile Payments Market Share
WeChat Engagement: Time Spent, Messages, and Daily Behavior
WeChat’s engagement intensity is hard to match outside of TikTok and WhatsApp.
- Daily messages sent: 45 billion; daily audio and video calls placed: 410 million (Business of Apps 2026).
- Daily videos uploaded: 68 million; average daily time in-app: 82 minutes (Statista WeChat Worldwide 2025).
- Session frequency: over 60% of users open the app more than 10 times per day; 21% open it more than 50 times per day.
| Engagement metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Daily messages sent (billions) | 45 | Business of Apps 2026 |
| Daily audio and video calls placed (millions) | 410 | Business of Apps 2026 |
| Daily videos uploaded (millions) | 68 | Statista WeChat 2025 |
| Average time spent per day (minutes) | 82 | Business of Apps 2026 |
| Users opening more than 10 times per day | 60% | Statista WeChat 2025 |
| Users opening more than 50 times per day | 21% | Statista WeChat 2025 |
| China-based users (millions) | 810 | Statista WeChat 2025 |
Source: Statista WeChat Worldwide 2025; Business of Apps WeChat Statistics 2026
WeChat users send approximately 45 billion messages and place approximately 410 million audio and video calls daily. Over 60% of WeChat users open the app more than 10 times per day, and 21% open it more than 50 times per day. WeChat users upload approximately 68 million videos daily. Approximately 93.6% of online adults globally use chat apps and messenger platforms like WhatsApp and WeChat each month, per DataReportal’s Digital 2026 Mid-Year Global Update Report.
The takeaway: WeChat’s engagement profile (82 minutes per day, 45 billion daily messages, 60% of users opening it more than ten times per day) is what makes the ad-revenue compounding work.
A user who opens an app ten times per day sees ten times the ad inventory of one who opens it once, and Tencent’s 2025 ad-load increases collected on that surface.
Is WeChat Banned in the United States?
No. As of mid-2026, WeChat is legally available in the United States, and there is no active enforcement action against the app. On August 6, 2020, President Trump signed an executive order that would have banned the use of WeChat in the United States, citing national security concerns about the Chinese government’s access to user data. The 2020 executive order targeting WeChat, Executive Order 13943, was enjoined by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in September 2020, and the Biden administration revoked Executive Orders 13942 and 13943 on June 9, 2021.
The 2024 successor legislation that drew most attention focused on TikTok, not WeChat. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, enacted April 24, 2024, does not currently apply to WeChat under any enforcement action, though it remains on a Department of Commerce monitoring list of foreign-adversary-controlled applications. On September 25, 2025, the President signed an executive order extending non-enforcement of the act for an additional 120 days that applies specifically to TikTok and does not authorize enforcement actions against WeChat.
US policy context: The Trump administration in 2025 reopened debate over restricting WeChat and other Chinese-owned apps through the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, though enforcement against WeChat has not been activated as of 2026, meaning US users continue to have legal access while the underlying statutory authority remains on the books.
Conclusion
WeChat’s 2026 numbers describe a platform at scale-equilibrium rather than peak growth. Combined MAU of Weixin and WeChat at 1,418 million in Q4 2025 grew 2% year-on-year (single-digit user growth) while Tencent’s Marketing Services revenue grew 19% off the same base, a divergence that says the platform now monetizes intensity, not headcount. Weixin Pay’s over 1 billion average daily commercial transactions and Mini Programs’ over 8 trillion 2024 GMV are the demand-side levers Tencent will keep pulling.
Three figures are the ones to watch over the next four quarters: the Marketing Services vs FinTech growth-rate gap, Mini Shop GMV as a share of total Mini Programs GMV, and whether the WeChat Pay vs Alipay split holds inside the 42-53 band as the e-CNY rollout expands.
