Ready to find out some of the most amazing facts and statistics about taking selfies?
Great!
In this article, you’re going to find:
- How many selfies are taken a day worldwide?
- How many selfies does an average person take?
- What are the trendiest places to take selfies?
- In which cities people tend to take the most selfies?
- Which age group (and generation) take the most selfies?
- And much more…
Let’s get right into it.
Table of Contents
Selfies in Numbers (Top Picks)
- Around 93 million selfies are taken each day. On average, a person takes more than 450 selfies a year. Considering that most photos are taken with smartphones, selfies make up a significant portion of all photos taken worldwide.
- Millennials are expected to take more than 25,000 selfies during their lifetime. That makes almost 1 selfie a day.
- The majority of young students say that they take around 1 to 4 selfies a day while there are also others that take 5 to 8, and even those that take more than 8 selfies a day.
- It takes just 11 seconds to decide if we are satisfied with the specific selfie, but we tend to spend another 26 minutes worrying if it should be shared on social media. This fact lets us assume that we are seriously debating how it will represent us online.
- 8% of young people aged 18 to 34 find it acceptable to take a selfie while being at a funeral.
Sources: India Times | Standard UK | AOL | HONOR
Selfies: Demographics
62% of people in the U.S. have ever taken a selfie.
A more detailed breakdown shows that 82% of U.S. adults aged 18-34 years have taken a selfie and posted it on social media platforms at least once.
35 to 54 years old aged U.S. adults make up 63% of those who have taken a selfie and posted it online at least once in their lifetime, and 55+ years adults make up 44%.
55% of all millennials post selfies. In fact, this generation is responsible for the majority of selfies taken.
Generation | Percentage of all that post selfies |
Millenials | 55% |
Gen X | 24% |
Baby Boomers | 9% |
More than half millennials regularly post selfies online. Talking about Gen X, only 24% (or approximately 1 out of 4) post selfies.
Baby Boomers are the least interested in this new trend – only around 9% of them post selfies.
Sources: Statista | Teen Vogue
Most popular places for selfies
The most popular site for taking a selfie is the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
Top 10 trendy places that people take most selfies in:
- Eiffel Tower, Paris
- Disney World, Florida
- Burj Khalifa, Dubai
- Big Ben, London
- Empire State Building, New York
- Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
- Disneyland Paris
- Colosseum, Rome
- Top of the Rock, New York
- London Bridge, London
Source: CNN
8% of young people aged 18 to 34 consider it acceptable to take a selfie while at a… funeral
That’s right. There are some unusual places and situations where people find it acceptable to take a selfie. For example, 8% of people aged 18-34 are fine taking a selfie during a funeral.
Talking about older people, 4% of adults aged 55+ are fine with that too.
Even more, 28% of youngsters aged 18-34 consider it acceptable to take a selfie while in the bath.
Source: Statista
Cities with the most people taking selfies
The 10 cities with people taking the most selfies are:
| Rank | City | Number of selfie-takers per 100,000 people |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Makati City and Pasig, Philippines | 258 |
| 2 | Manhattan, N.Y. | 202 |
| 3 | Miami, Florida | 155 |
| 4 | Anaheim and Santa Ana, California | 147 |
| 5 | Petaling Jaya, Malaysia | 141 |
| 6 | Tel Aviv, Israel | 139 |
| 7 | Manchester, England | 114 |
| 8 | Milan, Italy | 108 |
| 9 | Cebu City, Philippines | 99 |
| 10 | George Town, Malaysia | 95 |
According to the TIME ranking, which they made to see which cities had the most people taking selfies, Makati City and Pasig were the top one.
Makati City and Pasig in the Philippines holds the title of being the most selfie-taking city and is considered to be selfie-capital. There are 258 selfie-takers per 100,000 people in this city.
Also, there are 3 U.S. cities in the top 10 – Manhattan (N.Y.), Miami (FL) and Anaheim and Santa Ana (CA)
Source: TIME
Number of selfies taken by age and gender
Age | Percentage of all selfies taken |
<18 | 30.29% |
18-35 | 58.88% |
35+ | 10.83% |
People take selfies mostly when they want to showcase their physical appearance, a study by students of Georgia Institute of Technology finds.
So, according to a study made by students of Georgia Institute of Technology, 18-35 is the most popular age group who takes selfies. They are responsible for almost 59% of all selfies taken.
When we are talking about appearance, 2 out of 3 selfies are taken by women. Women post selfies more often when it comes to fitness and a healthy lifestyle, and men tend to post more travel selfies.
Source: Georgia Institute of Technology
Frequently asked questions about selfies
Around 93 million selfies are taken each day; however, the number is approximate and fluctuates. If we add the numbers, there are almost 34 billion selfies taken a year.
On average, people take 1 to 4 selfies a day, making around 450 selfies a year.
It is believed that the first selfie was taken by photography enthusiast Robert Cornelius from Philadelphia. He took it in 1893 with a daguerreotype technique by removing lens cap and then getting in the image frame. Since taking a picture was slow back then, the photographer had to stay still in the frame for a few minutes. The picture holds the record as the first selfie ever taken.
Although an average person spends just a few minutes taking a selfie, younger people tend to spend around 26 minutes in total until they decide it’s fully ready and questioning if it should really be uploaded.
Enjoyed reading these facts? Here are more statistics you might find interesting
Hi there! Do you know when (what year) or where the 93 million selfies citation was from? This is for academic research!
Thanks 🙂
Hi Maika, good question. This number was shared by Google in their research back in 2014. 🙂