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Most Followed Accounts on Social Media (Oct 2023)

by Fabio Duarte
September 27, 2023

The largest accounts on social media have millions of followers, and with that, enormous influence.

The top accounts vary considerably across platforms, but there are several people who feature in multiple lists.

Below, we’ll dive into the most followed accounts on each of the top social media platforms, including the top 5 most-followed people overall.

Contents

Who is the Most Followed Person on Social Media?

With approximately 881 million total followers, Cristiano Ronaldo is comfortably the most-followed person across social media platforms.

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Overall, the top 5 most-followed people on social media are:

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 876 million followers

  2. Selena Gomez - 685 million followers

  3. Justin Bieber - 595.3 million followers

  4. Taylor Swift - 519 million followers

  5. Ariana Grande - 505.5 million followers

Despite no TikTok presence, Ronaldo’s unrivaled Instagram following of approximately 600 million coupled with 100 million followers on both Facebook and X puts him at #1.

Most Followed Accounts on TikTok

Khabane Lame is the most followed person on TikTok with well over 150 million followers.

Charli D’Amelio is the only other TikToker with over 100 million followers.

Between July 2022 and July 2023, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) more than doubled his followers from around 40 million to 85 million.

Just two (MrBeast and Will Smith) of TikTok’s top 10 most followed people feature in any of the other top 20 social media lists.

Rank

Account

Followers

July 2022 Followers

1

Khabane lame

161.9 million

145 million

2

charli d’amelio

151.1 million

143.4 million

3

Bella Poarch

92.8 million

90.4 million

4

Addison Rae

88.3 million

88.1 million

5

MrBeast

87.3 million

↑  39.7 million

6

Zach King

79 million

69.1 million

7

Kimberly Loaiza

77.3 million

64.8 million

8

TikTok

75 million

72.5 million

9

cznburak

73.7 million

59.6 million

10

Will Smith

73.5 million

72.3 million

11

The Rock

72.7 million

54.2 million

12

domelipa

68.9 million

55.8 million

13

BTS

62.5 million

51.2 million

14

Selena Gomez

59.5 million

42 million

15

Jason Derulo

58.2 million

52.5 million

16

dixie

56.9 million

57.4 million

17

원정맨 WonJeong

55.9 million

45.7 million

18

Spencer X

55 million

19

Kylie Jenner

54.6 million

41.6 million

20

Loren Gray

54.2 million

54.6 million

Source: Social Blade

Most Followed Accounts on Instagram

Aside from Instagram’s own account, Cristiano Ronaldo has the most followers on Instagram with around 600 million.

Another soccer star Leo Messi currently ranks third for most Instagram followers, just over 100 million behind rival Ronaldo.

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With the exception of YouTube’s T-Series (250 million subscribers), each of Instagram’s top 20 accounts have more followers than all other social media accounts.

17 of the top 20 Instagram accounts are focused on a single person.

Rank

Account

Followers

July 2022 Followers

1

Instagram

658 million

526 million

2

Cristiano Ronaldo

606.7 million

462.4 million

3

Leo Messi

488.3 million

344.4 million

4

Selena Gomez

430.1 million

332.8 million

5

Kylie

398.9 million

355.1 million

6

Dwayne Johnson

391million

325.8 million

7

Ariana Grande

380.1 million

320.2 million

8

Kim Kardashian

364.4 million

322.8 million

9

Beyoncé

316.4 million

265.6 million

10

Khloé Kardashian

317.6 million

25.8 million

11

Nike

305.5 million

227.2 million

12

Kendall

294.6 million

244.6 million

13

Justin Bieber

292.7 million

246 million

14

National Geographic

283.3 million

229.9 million

15

Taylor Swift

273.1 million

217.2 million

16

Virat Kohli

259.6 million

204.4 million

17

Jennifer Lopez

251.1 million

216.8 million

18

Barbie (Nicki Minaj) 226.9 million 196.8 million

19

Kourtney Kardashian Barker

224.7 million

187.4 million

20

NJ ?? (Neymar

215.2 million

176 million

Source: Social Blade

Most Followed Accounts on Twitter (Now X)

Owner Elon Musk has the most-followed account on X, accumulating over 30% of his 158.1 million followers since July 2022.

In contrast to other popular social media platforms, 5 of the top 20 X accounts have experienced a net loss of followers between July 2022 and August 2023.

In total, 5 of the top 10 most-followed accounts belong to music artists. While 3 belong to current or former heads of state.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the only athlete in the top 10 with Neymar ranked #19. And Elon Musk is the only business magnate in the top 10 with Bill Gates at #18.

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YouTube (#11), NASA (#14), and X (#16) are the only organizations in the top 20.

Rank

Account

Followers

July 2022 Followers

1

elonmusk

158.1 million

100.3 million

2

BarackObama

132 million

132.3 million

3

justinbieber

111.7 million

114.2 million

4

Cristiano

109.7 million

101.5 million

5

rihanna

108.4 million

107 million

6

katyperry

107.2 million

108.9 million

7

taylorswift13

94.4 million

90.5 million

8

narendramodi

92 million

80.3 million

9

realDonaldTrump

87.4 million

n/a

10

ladygaga

83.9 million

84.8 million

11

YouTube

79.3 million

75.6 million

12

NASA

77.1 million

59.1 million

12

KimKardashian

75.2 million

72.9 million

14

EllenDeGeneres

75.1 million

77.5 million

15

X

66.8 million

62 million

16

selenagomez

66.7 million

66 million

17

cnnbrk

63.9 million

63.3 million

18

BillGates

63.8 million

59.7 million

19

neymarjr

62.9 million

57.1 million

20

CNN

61.7 million

58.7 million

Source: Social Blade

Most Liked Pages on Facebook

Facebook’s most liked pages have little overlap with other social media followings. In fact, 13 of the top 20 do not feature on any other list.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most-liked person on Facebook with well over 150 million likes.

Shakira (124 million likes) is the only other non-fictional person to feature in the top 5.

Rank

Account

Likes

July 2022 Followers

1

Facebook

183.4 million

176.7 million

2

Cristiano Ronaldo

166.7 million

151.9 million

3

Samsung

162.4 million

161.8 million

4

Mr Bean

140.4 million

130.2 million

5

Shakira

124.4 million

117.5 million

6

CGTN

120.8 million

118.4 million

7

Will Smith

116.6 million

111.5 million

8

Leo Messi

115.9 million

105.9 million

9

Real Madrid C.F.

114.2 million

112.2 million

10

Coca-Cola

109.5 million

-

11

Vin Diesel

106.5 million

108 million

12

China Daily

105.8 million

105 million

13

Rihanna

105 million

102.2 million

14

FC Barcelona

103.5 million

103.3 million

15

Eminem

95.7 million

94.6 million

16

Tasty

95.6 million

96.6 million

17

China Xinhua News

95.4 million

92.7 million

18

Justin Bieber

92.2 million

91.1 million

19

Neymar Jr.

91.4 million

89 million

20

Netflix

88.2 million

82.3 million

Source: Social Blade

Most Subscribed Channels on YouTube

Music and kids content is king on YouTube with 7 channels regularly uploading music videos and 6 frequently posting child-friendly content.

T-Series is the largest channel by subscribers with around 250 million subscribers - almost 100 million more than any other channel.

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India is represented twice in the top four channels with SET India ranked 4th.

Just 4 channels (MrBeast, PewDiePie, Like Nastya, and Justin Bieber) are primarily based around a single person.

Rank

Account

Subscribers

July 2022 Subscribers

1

T-Series

250 million

219 million

2

MrBeast

184 million

97.8 million

3

Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes

165 million

138 million

4

SET India

162 million

136 million

5

✿ Kids Diana Show 

114 million

96.9 million

6

PewDiePie

111 million

-

7

Like Nastya

107 million

97.1 million

8

Vlad and Niki 

101 million

73.3 million

9

Zee Music Company

99.8 million

85.3 million

10

WWE

97.2 million

89.2 million

11

BLACKPINK

91.4 million

75 million

12

Goldmines

89.9 million

71.8 million

13

Sony SAB

85.5 million

69.1 million

14

5-Minute Crafts

80.3 million

77 million

15

BANGTANTV

76.4 million

68.9 million

16

HYBE LABELS

72.7 million

67.2 million

17

Justin Bieber

71.9 million

69.3 million

18

Zee TV

72.7 million

62.7 million

19

Pinkfong Baby Shark - Kids' Songs & Stories

69.7 million

57.4 million

20

ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs

67.6 million

57.5 million

Source: Social Blade

Most Followed Accounts on Twitch

Ninja is the most-followed Twitch streamer with nearly 20 million followers.

The professional gamer rose to fame playing Fortnite and is rumored to be leaving the platform for a second time in the near future. 

Rank

Account

Followers

July 2022 Followers

1

Ninja

18.6 million

18.3 million

2

auronplay

15.6 million

13.1 million

3

ibai

15.1 million

11.1 million

4

Rubius

14.5 million

12.1 million

5

xQc

11.9 million

10.9 million

6

TheGrefg

11.6 million

10 million

7

Tfue

11.4 million

11.1 million

8

juansguarnizo

11.1 million

8.3 million

9

shroud

10.7 million

10.1 million

10

pokimane

9.4 million

9.2 million

11

sodapoppin

8.9 million

-

12

ElMariana

8.7 million

4.6 million

13

ElSpreen

8.6 million

4.2 million

14

Heelmike

7.4 million

-

15

tommyinnit

7.4 million

7.2 million

16

Myth

7.3 million

-

17

AdinRoss

7.3 million

5.9 million

18

KaiCenat

7.2 million

1.3 million

19

TimTheTatman

6.9 million

-

20

NICKMERCS

6.7 million

6.5 million

Sources: Social Blade, EarlyGame

Most Followed Accounts on Threads

Launched in July 2023, Threads’ follower numbers pale in comparison to other more established social networks.

Selena Gomez currently leads the way with just over 8 million followers, closely followed by Kim Kardashian.

Expect these figures to creep up as the platform finds its footing.

Account

Followers

1

Selena Gomez

9 million

2

Kylie Jenner

7.6 million

3

Kim Kardashian

6.7 million

4

MrBeast

5.6 million

=5

Shakira

5.1 million

=5

Jennifer Lopez

5.1 million

7

Will Smith

4.8 million

8

Khloé Kardashian

4.4 million

9

Ronaldinho

4 million

10

Mark Zuckerberg

3.4 million

Source: Game Revolution, Threads

Top Social Media Followings

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Combined Social Media Followers: 881 million

TikTok Followers: -

Instagram Followers: 606 million

X Followers: 109 million

Facebook Followers: 166 million

YouTube Subscribers: -

Twitch Followers: -

Threads Followers:

Description: Cristiano Ronaldo is considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time. The Portuguese soccer star has won countless individual and team accolades. In doing so, Ronaldo has become one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, which has translated into an enormous social media following.

2. Selena Gomez

Combined Social Media Followers: 688.3 million

TikTok Followers: 59.5 million

Instagram Followers: 430 million

X Followers: 66.7 million

Facebook Followers: 89 million

YouTube Subscribers: 34.1 million

Twitch Followers: -

Threads Followers: 9 million

Description: Selena Gomez first rose to fame on the Disney Channel but has since gone on to have a successful career in music among other ventures. Three no.1 solo albums and a role as an executive producer on the hit Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why have helped Selena grow her cumulative social media audience beyond half a billion.

3. Justin Bieber

Combined Social Media Followers: 595 million

TikTok Followers: 27 million

Instagram Followers: 293 million

X Followers: 111 million

Facebook Followers: 92 million

YouTube Subscribers: 72 million

Twitch Followers: -

Threads Followers:

Description: Canadian singer Justin Bieber originally gained a following on YouTube as a teenager before quickly establishing himself as a global phenomenon. A large catalog of hit songs and a notoriously dedicated fanbase has seen the 29-year-old accumulate around 600 million followers across social media platforms.

4. Taylor Swift

Combined Social Media Followers: 522.2 million

TikTok Followers: 21.6 million

Instagram Followers: 273 million

X Followers: 94.4 million

Facebook Followers: 79 million

YouTube Subscribers: 54.2 million

Twitch Followers: -

Threads Followers: -

Description: Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift first gained popularity with her self-titled debut album in 2006. Since then, she has released a further nine chart-topping albums, a feat unmatched by any other female recording artist. In the process, Taylor is one of only five individuals to amass over half a billion social media followers.

5. Ariana Grande

Combined Social Media Followers: 508 million

TikTok Followers: 33.1 million

Instagram Followers: 380 million

X Followers: -

Facebook Followers: 42 million

YouTube Subscribers: 52.9 million

Twitch Followers: -

Threads Followers:

Description: Another former Disney star, Ariana Grande has since become one of the biggest names in pop music. Several no.1 singles and an adoring fan base have propelled the 30-year-old to almost 400 million followers on Instagram and more than 500 million across social media. 

Conclusion

Largely composed of music artists and athletes, the most-followed social media personalities are well-established celebrities in their own right.

Instagram currently holds the largest followings, whilst social media newcomer Threads understandably trails behind.

For more related content, take a look at our Top 20 New Social Media Networks and 14 Important Social Media Trends.