MOSCOW, Feb 18 – PRIME. The Telegram messaging service overtook Facebook Messenger* in five years and became the world’s second messenger after WhatsApp, while the gap is shrinking every year, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said.

“Over the past five years, Telegram has surpassed Facebook Messenger* to become the most popular cloud messaging app. Telegram is now second only to WhatsApp and is closing the gap every year. No wonder our competitors are worried,” Durov wrote in his Telegram channel.

Durov refers to the Fortune magazine chart. According to the chart, in 2018 Telegram accounted for 5% of the messenger market, and Facebook Messenger* for 43%. In 2022, Telegram already had 31%, Facebook Messenger* had 21%. WhatsApp had 51% of the market in 2018 and 44% in 2022.

WhatsApp is an application owned by Meta* that allows you to send and receive messages, calls, photos, videos, documents, and voice messages.

* Meta activity (social networks Facebook and Instagram) is banned in Russia as extremist