Zalo remains Vietnam’s most-used messaging app

Zalo continued to be the most used messaging application in Vietnam in 2022, according to the report "The Connected Consumer Q4 2022" published by MMA Vietnam and Decision Lab.

Zalo remains the top messaging app in Vietnam for many years. Photo: VNG

In the list of leading messaging platforms in Vietnam, Zalo leads with a usage rate of 87%, followed by Facebook with 72%, Messenger with 58%, and Instagram with 15%, by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.

The report said Zalo broke through the “glass ceiling”, earning a 6% increase in favorability, further solidifying its position in the category. The usage of Zalo rose by 4%, faster than Facebook's, helping the Vietnamese app to inch closer to being the most-used social platform in Vietnam. Most of this growth is in Gen X (42 to 62 years old) and Gen Z (16 to 25 years old) users.

The report underlined this impressive number helps Zalo strengthen its position as Vietnam's most popular messaging application from 2020 to now.

According to Decision Lab's analysis of the Vietnamese app's leading position, Zalo's advantage lies in its technology platform, which is tailored to Vietnamese lifestyles. The app shows serious and systematic investment by consistently upgrading its security features, such as the recent addition of end-to-end encryption in May 2022.
In addition, Zalo allows users to send high-quality, large files of up to 1GB via the Zalo PC and Zalo Web versions while maintaining smooth and stable communication quality despite the app's growing user base. These strengths have helped Zalo remain the top messaging app in Vietnam for many years.

The report also noted Zalo has also been included in the Top 20 most popular apps on the Apple Store for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022), chosen by the global App Store editorial team based on various criteria such as downloads, quality, technology, design, and cultural and community impact.

According to the report, about 96% of respondents stated that they used Facebook, followed by Zalo, and YouTube. While Facebook and YouTube are known globally, Zalo is Vietnam’s premier chatting platform which was launched in 2012. 

German-based Statista estimated the number of social network users in Vietnam is about 74.6 million this year. Founded by Vuong Quang Khai, Executive Vice President of Vietnamese technology company VNG Corporation, Zalo boasts more than 73 million active users, exchanging some two billion messages each day.

More than 10,000 government agencies have set up their Zalo accounts to better connect with people and improve services.

Among the agencies, the Hanoi government launched its official Zalo account on February 10 to handle complaints and petitions from local citizens and businesses. Accordingly, Zalo is one of Hanoi's four key information systems in the implementation of the Government's "National Digital Transformation Program to 2025 with a Vision to 2030", which aims to create ground-breaking changes in administrative reform.