Telegram was the most downloaded app worldwide in which month and year?

Telegram was the world’s most downloaded app in January 2021.

The ranking referred to downloads of non-gaming mobile apps and was based on worldwide app-install estimates reported by Sensor Tower. Telegram recorded more than 63 million downloads during the month, placing it ahead of TikTok and other major messaging and social platforms.

India supplied about 24 percent of Telegram’s January 2021 downloads, making it the largest national source in the ranking. Telegram’s total was also reported as roughly 3.8 times its download figure from January 2020.

The surge came during a period of intense interest in privacy-focused messaging. Telegram had already passed about 500 million monthly active users by early January 2021, while users around the world were reconsidering messaging services and their data policies. “Most downloaded” describes new installations during that month—not total users, daily activity, or lifetime downloads.