Smartphones can’t rival professional DSLR or mirrorless cameras in low light, macro, and bokeh quality.
But—
Their advanced image processing has already outperformed most point-and-shoots.
So, at Passport Photo Online, we’ve compiled a list of mobile photography statistics to help you understand the state of smartphone photography and its future.
Let’s make a start:
Top Mobile Photography Statistics (Editor’s Picks)
- People take well over 2T photos annually on their smartphones.
- On average, Americans take pictures with their phones six times a day.
- Smartphone users have roughly 2,795 photos in their camera roll.
- Approximately 92M selfies are taken daily worldwide.
Smartphone Market Trends and User Statistics
- Global smartphone users are expected to grow by 1.8 billion (+42.6%) from 2024 to 2029, reaching 6.1 billion.
- In 2025, global digital camera shipments were forecast to reach 8.58M, with about 75% being interchangeable lens models.
- Nearly 86% of Americans take into consideration camera quality when getting a new smartphone.
- The most popular image-sharing platforms are WhatsApp (6.9B pictures shared daily), Snapchat (3.8B), and Facebook (2.1B).
Technological Innovations in Smartphones
- Launched in 2023, Google’s Pixel 8 pioneered AI photo-editing features, enabling its owners to add or remove elements from their pictures.
- In 2025, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Motorola Edge 30 Ultra featured the world’s highest smartphone camera resolution—200 MP main sensors, delivering ultra-detailed images and advanced zoom capabilities.
- More than six in 10 professional photographers (64%) use smartphones for over half their personal photos, yet 64% shun them for professional work.
- In November 2024, Canva ranked as the top photo editor app in the US, surpassing 1.16M downloads on Google Play and the App Store.
Smartphone Usage Patterns and Preferences
- When smartphones rose in popularity in the 2010s, people took seven times more photos (over 8.6T) than in the previous decade.
- Smartphones dominate photography, used by 91% of people compared to 7% for digital cameras and 3% for tablets. That share is expected to grow to 94% by 2026.
- US adults’ camera rolls mostly feature family (69%) and group photos (66%), followed by pictures of friends (63%), selfies (58%), pets (52%), and scenery (43%).
- Approximately 80% of US travelers say photo-taking is their most-used smartphone function.
- Nearly half (43%) of Americans frequently use editing apps on photos before sharing them.
| Mobile Phone Users in Selected Markets That Regularly Use Photo Editing Apps | In % |
| US | 43 |
| Japan | 42 |
| India | 42 |
| South Korea | 38 |
| France | 37 |
| Germany | 37 |
| China | 36 |
| UK | 30 |
- About 50% of people take between one and four selfies daily.
- Europeans take an average of 597 selfies yearly.
- During a month-long vacation, people will typically spend at least 3.5 hours taking selfies.
- Among 18 to 24-year-olds, one in every three photos captured is a selfie.
- With Millennials spending over four hours daily on social media, it’s estimated they’ll take around 25,700 selfies in their lifetime.
- About 86% of photographers favor iPhones for non-professional photography over Android smartphones.
| Professional Photographers’ Preferred Devices for Taking Non-professional Photos | In % |
| iPhone | 86 |
| Android smartphone | 14 |
Stacking It All Up
There you have it.
A comprehensive list of mobile photography statistics.
If you believe your audience will be interested in any of the information we’ve provided, feel free to share it. Just remember to link back to this page as a credit to our work.
Keep Exploring
Want more data? Here are additional resources:
- Smartphone Usage Statistics
- Average Screen Time and Other Statistics
- Mobile App Statistics
- Virtual Meeting Statistics
- VR Statistics
- Snapchat Statistics
- Pinterest Statistics
- YouTube Statistics
- Instagram Statistics
- Facts About Facebook
- TikTok Statistics
Sources
- BBC, “Brighter, Steadier, Smarter: How Smartphone Cameras Will Improve”
- Digital Photography Review, “Study: Smartphone Camera Use on the Rise among Pro Photographers”
- Interesting Engineering, “Selfie Taking Is On the Rise in Europe”
- Moto Smartphones, “Highest Megapixel Camera Phone in 2025”
- Mylio, “How Many Photos Will be Taken?”
- Passport Photo Online, “Smartphone Use On Vacation”
- PetaPixel, “Almost All Photos Are Now Taken On Smartphones”
- Rise Above Research, “Worldwide Image Capture Forecast: 2021 – 2026”
- Statista, “Number of Smartphone Users Worldwide from 2014 to 2029”
- Statista, ”Shipment Forecast for Lenses and Digital Cameras Worldwide for 2025, by Type”
- Statista, “Do Pro Photographers Use Camera Phones?”
- Statista, “Leading Photo and Video Editor Apps in the United States, by Downloads”
- Statista, “Smartphone Users Have a Soft Spot for Photo Editing Apps”
- Statista, “Smartphones Wipe Out 40 Years of Camera Industry Growth”
- Sur in English, “This Is How Much Time, on Average, We Spend Taking Selfies on Holiday…”
- SWNS Digital, “Average American Takes This Many Photos a Day”
- The New York Times, “Smartphone Photos Are Getting Faker. Uh-Oh?”
- The Radicati Group, “Mobile Statistics Report, 2021–2025”
As a Digital PR specialist and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Max has 5+ years of writing experience.
Over the course of his career, Max’s work has garnered significant attention, with features in numerous prominent publications such as The New York Times, Forbes, Inc., Business Insider, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, BBC, TechRepublic, Glassdoor, and G2.
