Web Browser Market Share: 85+ Browser Usage Statistics

If you want up-to-date browser stats, then you’ll LOVE this comprehensive roundup.

Today, I will show you which browsers have the biggest slice of the 5.3 billion monthly internet users today – the competition is fierce!

This guide will break down the top statistics by desktop, mobile, tablet, and location.

Let’s explore the rise and fall of the internet’s largest browsers.

• Worldwide Browser Market Share in 2024 (All Platforms)
• Desktop Browser Market Share in 2024
• Mobile Browser Market Share in 2024
• Google Chrome Browser Market Share Statistics
• Safari Browser Market Share Statistics
• Mozilla Firefox Browser Market Share Statistics
• Microsoft Edge Browser Market Share Statistics
• Samsung Internet Browser Market Share Statistics
• Browser Market Share by Country
• Browser Market Share by Region

Worldwide Browser Market Share in 2024 (All Platforms)

Here’s a breakdown of browser share worldwide for desktop and mobile. As you can see, Chrome is by far the most popular browser on the planet (nearly 7 out of 10 people use Chrome), followed by Safari (with nearly 2 out of 10 people using it).

Interesting, the relatively new Microsoft Edge has surpassed Firefox in popularity.

Desktop Browser Market Share in 2024

Looking at only desktops, the rankings are similar but we’ve got a new browser (360 Safe) not featured in the ranking of most popular browsers across all platforms.

Also, Edge appears to be a browser that people primarily use on desktop and it took Safari’s 2nd place in the overall ranking.

Mobile Browser Market Share in 2024

Chrome remains the #1 most-used browser on mobile and desktop. Safari, largely thanks to being the default browser on iOS devices, comes in at a relatively close second.

Google Chrome Browser Market Share Statistics

How Many People Use Google Chrome?

Google Chrome holds over 65.29% browser market share in December 2023. Considering there are 5.3 billion monthly active internet users, the number of people using it is estimated to be 3.46 billion worldwide.

Google Chrome Browser Market Share Worldwide in 2024

Chrome Browser Usage Statistics

• Number of people using Chrome: 3.46 billion worldwide
• 12-month growth: 64.68% to 64.73% (2022-2023)
• 10-year growth: 35.82% to 64.73% (2013-2023)
• Highest market share: 66.34%
• Growth trend: Since 2008, it mostly increased year-over-year with the exception of flat growth / slight decline (less than 1%) in past few years
• Release date: September 2, 2008

Google released the initial version of Chrome back in September 2008. Before this, we lived in a world dominated by Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft’s IE.

Today, they barely hold 10% of the browser market combined (when accounting for Edge replacing Microsoft’s IE).

Chrome also remains the dominant web browser worldwide. In fact, Chrome is now the largest browser in pretty much any country, platform (except console) apart from Apple’s Safari being dominant on US mobile devices.

Notable Statistics

• As of August 2023, Chrome is 1-in-8 apps to be downloaded over 10 billion times from Google Play. What’s more, the other top 7 are all Google apps: Google Play Services, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, Speech Services by Google, Google Search and Android Accessibility Suite.
• Chrome pays hackers to hack them – that’s right; they have a Chrome Vulnerability Reward Program where you can get paid up to $150,000 for exploiting vulnerabilities.

Summary

I think one of Chrome’s crowning features is its continuous evolution.

Google’s statistics do the talking. They’re consistently improving the browser’s security, performance, and functionality – not to mention the awesome Chrome extensions!

Overall, it may not be perfect with resource usage and other issues, but people keep installing it on their devices, so they’re doing something right!

Sources: Statcounter 1, Statcounter 2, Statcounter 3, Wikipedia

Safari Browser Market Share Statistics

How Many People Use Safari?

Apple’s offering, Safari, currently holds 18.56% of the internet browser market, with an estimated 984 million people using it in December 2023. Safari also makes up 24.71% of all mobile device browsers worldwide, which is high considering Apple holds 28.83% of the smartphone market.

Safari Browser Market Share Worldwide in 2024

Safari Browser Usage Statistics

• Number of people using Safari: 984 million worldwide
• 12-month growth: 18.29% to 18.59% (2022-2023)
• 10-year growth: 11.77% to 18.59% (2013-2023)
• Highest market share: 20.7% (May 2023)
• Growth trend: Since launch, it’s only decreased in 2014-15 (-0.71%) 2017-18 (-0.08%)
• Release date: January 7, 2003 (Replacing Navigator on Macintosh computers)

Safari replaced Navigator as the browser of choice on Macintosh computers back in January 2003. Since then, Safari has been the default, pre-installed browser on every single iOS device with internet access.

No guesses what the primary driver for its user popularity is, right?

Safari is the only browser to beat Chrome for users in the tablet market. With 40.24% of ‘tablet only’ users in the US preferring the browser (vs. 30.92% for Chrome). Of course, this will have to do with Safari being pre-installed on iPad’s – which sell like crazy.

General Statistics

• Safari is the #1 browser for US mobile users, with over 55.21% of Americans using it for their mobile devices.
• Originally, Safari was going to be named ‘Freedom’ by Apple’s creator, Steve Jobs.
• The developers pushed for the name ‘iBrowse.’
• Safari is a firm number 2 in the market; its steady growth in the last decade has seen it reach a usage share of 1-in-5 web users in December 2023.

Summary

Overall, we can see that Safari is the second most popular browser globally.

Plus, its share of the current worldwide market has slightly increased in the past 12 months.

In the US mobile market, Safari is still going strong in terms of dominance. Until more Android devices get sold than iOS in America, it’s not likely to change any time soon.

At the moment, it seems users have to choose if they want the privacy and security benefits of Safari or just to use Chrome, which basically wants to collect data and advertise stuff to you.

Sources: Statcounter 1, Statcounter 2, Statcounter 3, Statcounter 4, Ars Technica

Mozilla Firefox Browser Market Share Statistics

How Many People Use Firefox?

In terms of the total web market share, Mozilla’s Firefox currently holds 3.36% across all platforms in December 2023. With only 0.52% coming from mobile devices. It’s estimated that 178 million people use Firefox today.

Firefox Browser Market Share Worldwide in 2024

Mozilla Firefox Browser Usage Statistics

• Number of people using Firefox: 178 million worldwide
• 12-month growth: 3.01% to 3.35% (2022-2023)
• 10-year growth: 14.83% to 3.35% (2013-2023)
• Highest market share: 31.82% in November 2009
• Growth trend: Since 2009, consistent decline in market share (with limited month-to-month growth in few cases)
• Release date: September 23, 2002 – Called Phoenix 0.1

Since Phoenix 0.1 was released in September 2002, Firefox quickly became a user favorite and renowned alternative to the once-dominant Internet Explorer. The fast adoption of Firefox was mainly due to IE’s slow release and lack of new features.

There was a time in the mid-2000s to 2010 where every 1 in 3 people accessing the web used Firefox. Since 2009, it’s lost its popularity considerably to Chrome and Safari, dropping from 14.83% to 3.35% in the past 10 years.

General Statistics

• On Google Play’s Android store, the Firefox app has over 100 million downloads.
• Firefox is a non-profit organization.
• Today, over 20% of Firefox users have the ‘Enhanced Tracking Protection’ feature enabled, blocking third-party tracking cookies.

Summary

Mozilla is a non-profit.

Because of that, users of the browser benefit from slightly more privacy compared to the amount of ad data Google collects from your search history via Chrome.

If privacy is something you look for in your internet experience, then browsers like Firefox and Tor are the best place to start.

Sources: Statcounter 1, Statcounter 2, Statcounter 3, Statcounter 4, Mozilla 1, Mozilla 2

Microsoft Edge Browser Market Share Statistics

How Many People Use Edge?

In December 2023, Microsoft Edge had 4.97% of the worldwide browser market, with an estimated 263 million people using it today. Edge performs well in the desktop market share at 11.89%, and a much lower 0.24% for mobile browser use.

Microsoft Edge Browser Market Share Worldwide in 2024

Edge Browser Usage Statistics

• Number of people using Edge: 263 million worldwide
• 12-month growth: 4.23% to 4.96% (2022-2023)
• Growth since launch: 0.4% to 4.96% (2015-2023)
• Highest market share: 5.5% in November 2023
• Growth trend: It’s only increased year-over-year
• Release date: July 25, 2015

Since launching on July 25, 2015, Microsoft’s replacement for IE has taken a good slice of the market, however not as much as the company hoped with its awe-inspiring codename ‘Spartan.’

The original Edge was an HTML-based browser. As of January 2020, Microsoft launched its Chromium-based version, merging users into the compatibility and performance-focused version.

Additional topics & snippets

As we know from Internet Explorer, simply installing something as default does not suggest that people will switch to use it as default. However, people seem to be giving Edge a shot, and the year-over-year growth has been consistent.

Will Edge manage to overtake Safari?

Only time will tell.

Sources: Statcounter 1, Statcounter 2, Statcounter 3, The Verge

Samsung Internet Browser Market Share Statistics

How Many People Use Samsung Internet?

In December 2023, Samsung Internet’s share of the web browser market was 2.6% across all platforms, with over 138 million people using it worldwide. However, the focus should be on their 4.48% of mobile users.

Samsung Internet Browser Market Share Worldwide in 2024

Samsung Internet Browser Usage Statistics

• Number of people using Samsung Internet: 138 million worldwide
• Downloads on Google Play: 1+ billion
• 12-month growth: 3.05% to 2.6% (2022-2023)
• Growth since launch: 0.55% to 2.6%
• Highest market share: 3.75% in July 2019
• Growth trend: Since launch, grew its market share to over 3% in 2019 but usage had since slightly dropped
• Release date: 2015

Samsung Internet is a mobile device browser running on the open-source Chromium project. It can be found on many smartphones.

What’s more, Samsung Internet has received over 1 billion installs from the Google Play Store since 2015, which is more than several browsers like Firefox and Opera combined.

These installs have left Samsung Internet ranked the 6th most popular browser across all platforms worldwide, behind Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox and Opera. In terms of mobile where it’s available for install, Samsung is ranked the 3rd most used behind Chrome and Safari.

Sources: Statcounter 1, Statcounter 2, Statcounter 3, Google Play

Browser Market Share by Country

1. China Browser Usage Statistics

1.05 billion internet users

Again, Chrome is the most popular internet browser in China, with a 51.52% market share and 60.36% on mobile. The 4th, 5th, and 6th most used are all browsers developed by Chinese companies, UC, QQ, and 360 Safe.

Safari comes in 2nd with a 17.23% market share; one contributor is the 50.83% dominance they have in the tablet market as the browser of choice.

Microsoft’s offering Edge ranked 3rd with a 8.87% market share across all platforms and 20.81% among desktop users, ranking it 2nd after Chrome in the desktop category.

UC Browser, built by UCWeb, was the 4th most popular browser in China, with 7.46% on all platforms, 11.89% on mobile.

Finally, 360 Safe Browser, built by the company Qihoo, was in 5th at 7.26%.

2. India Browser Usage Statistics

692 million internet users

Chrome is the undisputed top-ranked browser for India’s market share, with 87.13% across all devices and 87.57% on mobile. The second place is Opera with 4.99% overall and 4.88% through cell phones.

Safari doesn’t claim any wins for market share across all platforms, with 2.45% on mobile and only 11.05% on tablets – a market the company typically excels in.

This difference is due to the smartphone market; budget phones like Xiaomi, Realme, and OPPO dominate phone sales in India.

The UC browser had a 50/50 market share with Chrome until 2016, where it saw a decline in users migrating to Chrome.

UC did so well initially because they offered a lite mode that reduced the data usage, allowing for 2G browsing. What’s more, they actually saved 79% more data than Chrome and Firefox on 1000 MB of web page load in tests.

3. USA Browser Usage Statistics

311 million internet users

At 49.74% Google Chrome is the most popular used across all platforms in terms of US browser market share. In second place is Safari with 31.23% of the share; together, they make up over 80.97% of America’s market.

In terms of mobile, Safari is ranked number one and makes up 55.21% of all mobile browsing in the US, with Google Chrome ranked second with 37.98% and the Galaxy phones default browser, Samsung Internet, at 3.78%.

Why is Apple so dominant?

Well, this boils down to the simple fact they sell more phones in America than any other company. The iPhone’s default browser is Safari, and they own 55% of the smartphone market in the US, followed by Samsung at 23%.

Sources: Datareportal, Statcounter

Browser Market Share By Region

Finally, below we can see a comparison of all regions.

Where Safari has some strong usage figures in North America, Europe, and Oceania – it’s still too far behind Chrome.

Chrome is here to stay across all regions.

We can expect the most significant changes to these browser usage figures to come from the influence of pre-installed browsers on mobile devices.

Asia Web Browser Statistics

7 out of 10 internet users in Asia use Chrome. And less than 2% use Firefox.

North America Web Browser Statistics

In North America, Chrome holds a slim lead in terms of market share. With Safari being used by around a third of all North American internet users.

South America Web Browser Statistics

In South America, Chrome dominates. Nearly 8-in-10 internet users in South America use Chrome as their browser of choice.

Europe Web Browser Statistics

Here’s a full breakdown of browser market share in Europe. In the European region, Firefox has a much stronger presence than in Asia or South America.

Oceania Web Browser Statistics

In Oceania, Chrome retains a slim lead over its competitors. Even so, over half of all internet users in Australia, New Zealand and other countries in the region use Google Chrome.

Africa Web Browser Statistics

Chrome also performs well in Africa. However, Opera has much higher market penetration in Africa compared to many other places in the world.

Conclusion

That’s a wrap for my roundup of browser statistics.

Chrome is the unquestionable champion in the browser wars. Yet, some other browsers made category or regional wins questioning global Chrome dominance.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Will these new era browsers eat up more of the market? Do you expect to see privacy-focused browsers like DuckDuckGo in the future rankings?

Please jump in and leave a comment below and let me know what you think.