WhatsApp is installed on 95 per cent of smartphones surveyed in Nigeria, making it the most widely adopted consumer mobile application in the country, according to the Nigeria Smartphone Study 2025 by Orange Group and KPMG.
The messaging platform is well ahead of its closest competitors, with Facebook Messenger installed on 32 per cent of the smartphones surveyed and Telegram on 27 per cent. Facebook itself has an 87 per cent presence, underscoring the scale of Meta’s reach among Nigerian smartphone users.
The findings show that WhatsApp has moved beyond personal communication to become an important channel for commerce and customer service. Brandspur Brand News reports that retailers use the platform to receive orders, while financial institutions have introduced chat-based banking services, making the app an increasingly important digital touchpoint for businesses and consumers.
The study links WhatsApp’s widespread adoption to its relatively low data requirements, straightforward setup and ability to operate on affordable entry-level Android phones. These features have helped make the platform a common first installation for new smartphone users.
However, the 95 per cent figure does not represent the proportion of Nigerians who subscribe to or actively use WhatsApp. It measures installation among the smartphones included in the survey and therefore provides a picture of usage patterns within the study’s sample.
The research also found that smartphone penetration among respondents rose to 75 per cent in 2025, compared with 64 per cent in 2023. The increase reflects a continuing shift from feature phones towards smartphones that combine communication, commerce and access to digital services.
Data for the study was collected across 12 major Nigerian cities, including Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Benin City and Kaduna.
The report’s findings suggest that the growing smartphone population is also expanding the digital channels through which Nigerians communicate and conduct business. For small retailers in particular, platforms such as WhatsApp provide a direct way to interact with customers without requiring a separate digital storefront.
With WhatsApp already installed on almost all the smartphones covered by the survey, its dominance gives businesses and service providers a large existing audience through which they can reach consumers.
