ChatGPT: Africa and Latin America Lead Adoption

OpenAI Reveals ChatGPT Usage Figures by Country

For the first time, OpenAI has made detailed data on the global usage of ChatGPT public, available through its OpenAI Signals platform. These statistics focus on individual accounts, including Free, Go, Plus, and Pro versions, but exclude professional usage via ChatGPT Business or Enterprise. This initiative provides valuable insights into adoption trends across the globe.

Rapid Growth of ChatGPT in the Southern Hemisphere

ChatGPT has surpassed one billion users worldwide. Since July 2023, Africa has stood out with an impressive increase in the number of weekly active users, multiplying by 24. In comparison, Oceania records the slowest growth with a factor of 7. Other regions, such as Asia, South America, Europe, and North America, are experiencing similar growth rates. This dynamic reflects a catch-up by regions that were initially less engaged, gradually narrowing the gap with early adopters.

Another significant change concerns the age of users. Overall, the proportion of messages sent by individuals aged 35 and older has increased by 5% over the past year. In France, this increase is particularly pronounced, reaching 10.1 points higher, well above the global median of 5.1 points.

ChatGPT at Work: A Production Tool

OpenAI categorizes interactions with ChatGPT into three types: deliverable production, information retrieval, and personal expression. In the professional environment, users overwhelmingly prioritize content production, such as writing, coding, or analysis, with a likelihood more than twice that of personal usage.

Outside of work, information retrieval remains the most common use, followed by personal expression. In France, this trend is confirmed in the professional context, where the share of usage for "doing" rises from 18.9% outside of work to 42.6% at work.

The Rise of Multimedia with ChatGPT Images 2.0

Since the launch of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in April 2026, the use of ChatGPT to generate, analyze, or retrieve multimedia content has significantly increased, reaching 7.8% of global messages, compared to just 2% in July 2024. Although multimedia is the fastest-growing category since mid-2024, it still lags behind primary uses such as practical advice, writing, and information retrieval.

This trend is particularly strong in Latin America. In Brazil, 11.1% of messages sent to ChatGPT pertain to multimedia, followed by 10.1% in Colombia and 10% in Mexico. In contrast, Japan accounts for only 4.7% of multimedia messages, while France is slightly above with 5%, up from 2.1% in July 2024.

Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico stand out for their more pronounced multimedia usage of ChatGPT compared to other regions of the world.