Instagram Engagement - Everything You Need to Know

Instagram Engagement

It’s not just about how many followers anymore — it’s about whether they actually like your content. Engagement is how we measure that, by tracking whether users interacted with your content, or simply scrolled on by.

What is engagement?

Engagement: the total number of likes and comments on a post.

Engagement rate: engagement, divided by how many followers a user has.

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The average engagement rate on Instagram is 6.01%.

Video posts on Instagram bring in by far the most likes and comments.

Average Instagram engagement rate

We’ve collected average Instagram engagement and engagement rates from all over the world, so you can see how your own following compares.

It’s not just vanity metrics like follower counts that are up. Globally, the average engagement rate last year was 6.01%, or 1147 engagements per post.

Average engagement rate and Average engagement

Average Instagram engagement rate in the UK and North America

In both North America and the UK, the average engagement rate was slightly lower.
In North America, the average engagement rate was 6.50%, or 743 engagements per post.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the average engagement rate was 5.52%, or 734 engagements per post.

Average engagement rate vs. Region

The best types of posts to get comments on Instagram

Globally, video is the most engaging type of content, bringing in an average of 33 comments per post.
Carousel posts come in second, but the race is tight. They’re only just behind video, with 23 average comments. Image is the lowest performing post type on Instagram with only 13 comments on average.

Average comments vs. Post type

The best types of posts to get likes on Instagram

Video is again the most engaging type of content, with 1832 likes per post on average.
Carousel posts come in second. They are just behind video, with 1358 likes on average. Image is the lowest performing post type on Instagram, with only 581 likes on average.

Average likes vs. Post type

The best types of posts to get comments on Instagram in North America

In North America, video is the most engaging type of content, bringing in an average of 24 comments per post.
Carousel posts come in second. They’re only just behind video, with 21 average comments. Image is the lowest performing post type on Instagram with only 10 comments on average.

Average comments vs. Post type in North America

The best types of posts to get likes on Instagram in North America

In North America, video is the most engaging type of content, bringing in an average of 1123 likes per post.
Carousel posts come in second. They’re only just behind video, with 819 average likes. Image is the lowest performing post type on Instagram with only 312 likes on average.

Average likes vs. Post type in North America

The best types of posts to get comments on Instagram in the UK

In the UK, video is the most engaging type of content, bringing in an average of 23 comments per post.
Carousel posts come in second. They’re only just behind video, with 16 average comments. Image is the lowest performing post type on Instagram with only 10 comments on average.

Average comments vs Post type in the UK

The best types of posts to get likes on Instagram in the UK

In the UK, video is the most engaging type of content, bringing in an average of 1283 likes per post.
Carousel posts come in second. They’re only just behind video, with 827 average likes. Image is the lowest performing post type on Instagram with only 361 likes on average.

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Average likes vs Post type in the UK