10 Instagram Video Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2026

With 3 billion monthly active users, Instagram is one of the largest social platforms in the world. It also looks very different from the platform this article was originally written about in 2019. Reels now accounts for a large share of the time people spend on the app, and advertisers have followed that shift.

That makes the current numbers worth updating, but I do not think the older ones should simply disappear.

This article was first published in 2019. I have updated the main list with current Instagram video statistics for 2025 and 2026, while keeping a separate historical section at the end. Those older figures are no longer benchmarks I would use to plan a campaign today. They are useful because they show how quickly Instagram changed from a photo-first platform into one where video, Stories, and eventually Reels became a much bigger part of the experience.

At Yum Yum Videos, we have been producing marketing and explainer videos for more than 14 years, so we have watched that change happen alongside the broader growth of online video.

For the current statistics below, I went back to the original source whenever possible. The list relies mainly on Meta and Instagram data, along with large third-party studies where the methodology and sample size are available.

1. Reels Accounted for 46% of Time Spent on Instagram in the U.S. in 2025

Sensor Tower data reported by CNBC found that Reels accounted for 46% of the time U.S. users spent on Instagram in 2025. In 2024, the figure was 37%.

A nine-point increase in one year is substantial. It means that almost half of the time Americans spent on Instagram went to Reels.

Photos, Stories, carousels, and other formats still matter, but Reels now occupies a much larger part of the Instagram experience than it did only a few years ago.

2. More Than 50% of Instagram Ads Ran on Reels in 2025

The same shift is visible on the advertising side.

More than 50% of Instagram ads ran on Reels in 2025, compared with 35% in 2024.

For brands producing commercial ads, this is a practical change rather than a small format preference. Creative that was designed around square or landscape placements now has to compete inside a vertical, short-form environment.

3. Instagram Reels Watch Time Grew More Than 30% Year Over Year in the U.S.

Meta reported that Reels watch time increased by more than 30% year over year in the U.S. during Q4 2025.

The interesting part is the timing. Reels was already taking up a large share of Instagram usage, and watch time was still growing by more than 30% at the end of the year.

For a business deciding which Instagram formats deserve production time, that growth is hard to overlook.

4. Reels Are Reshared More Than 4.5 Billion Times Every Day

Meta says Reels are reshared more than 4.5 billion times every day across its platforms.

That behavior matters because a reshare gives a video another path to reach people beyond the account that originally posted it. A Reel can move through direct messages, group chats, and personal recommendations instead of relying only on feed distribution.

The 4.5 billion figure covers Meta’s platforms, so it should not be read as an Instagram-only total.

5. 79% of People Surveyed Purchased a Product or Service After Watching Reels

Instagram reports that 79% of people surveyed said they had purchased a product or service after watching Reels.

This is a survey result, not a claim that watching a Reel caused every one of those purchases. Still, it shows that Reels is part of the buying process for a large share of the people Instagram surveyed.

For product video, that makes the format especially relevant when the goal is to show what something does, how it looks in use, or why someone might choose it.

6. 9:16 Video With Audio Delivered 34.5% Lower CPA Than Image Ads on Reels

Meta found that 9:16 video with audio delivered a 34.5% lower cost per action than image ads on Reels, on average.

This is one of the more useful production statistics in the list because it compares creative formats inside the same placement.

Vertical video uses the available screen space and matches the way people normally watch Reels. For teams repurposing horizontal footage from other channels, that difference is worth considering before the edit is finished.

7. Catalog Product Videos Generated 33% Higher Incremental Conversions

Meta found that campaigns using catalog product video in the Reels placement generated 33% higher incremental conversions than campaigns that did not use the feature.

The result applies specifically to catalog product video, so I would not turn it into a general rule that every video ad will outperform every static ad.

What it does show is that product footage can play a meaningful role inside Reels when the format is tied directly to shopping and conversion.

8. In a Study of 11 Million Posts, Reels Between 60 and 90 Seconds Generated the Highest Engagement and Average Views

Socialinsider analyzed 11 million Instagram posts and found that Reels between 60 and 90 seconds generated the highest engagement and average views in its dataset.

That does not mean every Reel should be 60 to 90 seconds long. A simple product reveal may need far less time, while an educational video may justify more.

But it is a useful counterpoint to the idea that short-form video always has to mean ten or fifteen seconds. Viewers will stay longer when the content gives them a reason to.

9. Reels Influenced 81% of Product Discovery Among Users in a 2026 India Study

Meta’s 2026 India study found that Reels influenced 81% of product discovery among the users surveyed.

In the same research, Reels influenced 66% of product consideration and 47% of purchases.

The market matters here. These numbers come from India and should not be presented as global averages. They are still useful for showing how Reels can appear at several points in the buying journey, rather than only at the awareness stage.

10. Instagram Video Time Increased More Than 20% Year Over Year

Meta reported that overall Instagram video time increased by more than 20% year over year globally during Q2 2025.

That broader figure sits alongside the Reels-specific data above. Video is taking more of the time people spend on Instagram, while Reels is taking a larger share of video consumption and ad inventory.

For marketers, the practical question is no longer whether Instagram supports video. It is which type of video fits the objective, placement, and audience.

Looking Back: Historical Instagram Video and Marketing Statistics

Because this article dates back to 2019, I have kept the older statistics that appeared in previous versions.

They should be read as historical snapshots, not as current Instagram benchmarks. Some come from different studies, countries, samples, or measurement methods, so comparing them directly with the 2025 and 2026 figures above can be misleading.

They are still interesting because they document how fast the platform changed.

Instagram Growth and Demographics

• July 2018: Instagram reached 1 billion monthly active users worldwide, up from 800 million roughly a year earlier.
• 2021: Pew data showed that 39% of U.S. adult women and 30% of U.S. adult men used Instagram.
• 2016: Pew Research Center found that 59% of online adults ages 18 to 29 used Instagram, compared with 33% of those ages 30 to 49.
• 2015: A Pew Research Center study reported that 25% of smartphone owners used Instagram, and 38% of Instagram users checked the platform multiple times a day.

Those figures describe a much earlier version of Instagram, when its growth among younger users was one of the main stories around the platform.

Early Instagram Shopping and Business Use

• 2017: A study reported by Business Insider found that 72% of Instagram users had purchased a product they first saw on the app.
• 2021: Instagram for Business reported that 90% of Instagram accounts followed at least one business, while 83% of users said Instagram helped them discover new products or services.
• 2020 and 2021: One-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories came from businesses.

The language around social commerce was different then, but these numbers help explain why Instagram kept adding more shopping, advertising, and product discovery features over the following years.

Historical Instagram Video and Stories Benchmarks

• 2020: Sprout Social reported that around 60% of users logged in at least once a day and spent an average of 28 minutes on Instagram daily.
• 2020: One benchmark found that video posts received 38% more engagement than photos. A later 2021 source put the difference at 21%. These came from different studies, so I would not compare the percentages directly.
• 2017: Single-video layouts represented 25% of Instagram ads in one advertising benchmark.
• 2017: Instagram reported that the average time spent watching video on the platform had increased by more than 80% year over year. The number of videos shared each day had also increased fourfold.
• 2016: An Animoto survey found that 53.4% of marketers considered Instagram video important to their marketing strategies.
• 2021: One benchmark reported that 70% of active users watched Stories daily, with 50% preferring funny or entertaining content.
• 2021: A content benchmark identified educational how-to tutorials as the most successful type of Instagram video in its dataset.
• 2021: HubSpot reported that posts using 9 to 12 hashtags produced the highest reach in the dataset it analyzed.
• 2021: Another benchmark found that video posts generated 21% more engagement than static photos.

The 2017 watch-time figure is especially useful in hindsight. Instagram itself reported an 80% year-over-year increase in video watch time years before Reels existed. By 2025, Reels alone accounted for 46% of the time U.S. users spent on Instagram.

If you use any of these older statistics in a presentation, article, or report, keep the year attached to the number. A 2017 Instagram benchmark and a 2026 Reels benchmark describe very different versions of the platform.