The document summarizes emoji usage trends during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It found that usage of the microbe and face mask emojis increased drastically in late March. Overall, heart emojis remained the most popular globally and across most countries and platforms. Usage varied somewhat by country and platform, but laughing, heart, and crying emojis consistently ranked highly. The report provides insights into emoji usage trends during the pandemic.

1. State of Emoji
Report 2020

2. As people around the world sheltered at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emoji usage was impacted, particularly in late March:
— On March 26th, more emoji were sent than any other day of the year! This was also the same day that the U.S. began leading the world in confirmed COVID-19 cases
— 😷 saw an 8,822% increase in usage since last summer, reaching its highest usage on March 25
— Usage of 🦠 increased 69,354% over the last year, spiking in usage on March 24
COVID-19’s Impact on Emoji
Global Microbe Emoji usage May 31, 2019 to June 1, 2020
🦠
DATE
USAGE
Global Face Mask Emoji usage May 31, 2019 to June 1, 2020
😷
DATE
USAGE
JUNE 1, 2019 AUGUST 1, 2019 OCTOBER 1, 2019 DECEMBER 1, 2019 FEBRUARY 1, 2020 APRIL 1, 2020 JUNE 1, 2020 JUNE 1, 2019 AUGUST 1, 2019 OCTOBER 1, 2019 DECEMBER 1, 2019 FEBRUARY 1, 2020 APRIL 1, 2020 JUNE 1, 2020

3. — Despite the tough year, the top 5 most popular emoji globally are positive
— Globally, only 2 of the top 10 are sad
— However, people have definitely felt the stress; 😅 ranked 7th this year, but was not even in the top 10 in 2019
Top Emoji of 2020
4th
😍 5th3rd
🤣1st
😂 2nd
❤ 😘
😊9th
😔10th
😁8th
😭6th 7th
😅

4. Top Emoji by App
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Instagram
😂
🤣
😭
😍
😘
😅
🥺
😁
😔
Twitter
😭
😂
❤
🥺
💜
🤣
😔
😍
💖
💕
Bumble
😂
🤣
😅
☺
🙄
😊
😁
❤
✨
😳
Tinder
😂
🤣
😊
😅
☺
😁
🥰
😉
😍
🤔
Hinge
😂
😅
🤣
😊
😁
😉
👌
😍
😆
😭
TikTok
😭
🤣
😂
❤
🙏
😍
😘
😊
😁
🥺
Facebook
😂
🤣
❤
😍
😘
😁
😅
🙏
🥰
😭
Snapchat
😂
❤
🤣
😭
🥺
😘
😍
🥰
😅
😁
WhatsApp
😂
🤣
😘
😭
😍
😅
😁
🥺
🥰
❤
❤
❤ ❤
❤
❤
❤
— Facebook and TikTok are holding out hope for positive times ahead, keeping 🙏 in their top 10
— Hinge and Tinder are feeling flirtatious, these were the only apps to count 😉 amongst
their most popular emoji
— Tinder users might be getting skeptical. This was the only app to feature 🤔 in its top 10
— Bumble users also aren’t afraid to let people know when they’ve hit a nerve 🙄 😳
— Everything is A-OK on Hinge; this was the only app to feature 👌 in its top 10
— Twitter is feeling the love with four different kinds of hearts in its top emoji 💜 💖 💕
— TikTok and Twitter aren’t afraid to cry it out, these were the only two apps to feature 😭
as their top emoji
❤

5. Top Emoji by Country
❤
😂
😍
🤣
😘
🥰
😭
👏
💕
😹
B
razil
😂
❤
🤣
😭
😍
😘
😅
😊
😁
💕
C
anada
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
😂
❤
😹
♥
😍
💔
🙂
💙
🤣
😘
Egypt
😂
❤
😍
🤣
😘
💕
😭
😅
😻
😔
Argentina
😂
❤
😭
😍
💍
😘
🤣
🥰
😅
😊
France
😂
😘
🤣
❤
😍
😭
😁
😅
💋
🙏
India
🤣
😂
😘
😁
😅
😭
❤
🙏
😆
😍
Indonesia
😂
❤
😍
😭
😘
🤣
💔
😹
😒
😁
Iraq
😂
❤
🤣
😍
😘
😭
😅
🥰
🥺
💕
Italy
😂
❤
😘
🤣
😍
😅
😁
😊
😭
🥰
Turkey
😂
😭
❤
😁
😘
🤣
😅
😊
😑
😍
Thailand
😂
❤
🤣
😍
😘
🤤
😭
😅
🥺
🥰
Spain
❤
😂
🤣
😹
😘
😭
😍
💕
💋
😅
R
ussia
❤
😂
😍
🤣
🥺
😘
😅
😭
💔
😔
M
exico
😂
❤
🤣
😘
😍
😭
😁
🥰
💕
😅
U
K
😂
🤣
❤
😆
🙂
😑
😁
😅
😌
😭
Vietnam
😂
❤
🤣
😭
😘
😍
😁
💕
😊
💀
U
SA
❤❤❤❤
❤
❤❤ ❤❤❤❤
❤❤
❤❤
❤
❤
— Keeping the conversation light, 😂 ❤ 🤣 made it into the top 10 in all countries. Good to see that people are finding ways to stay happy in 2020
— For the second year in a row, 💍 broke the top 10 in France, proving that Paris truly is the city of love
— The U.S. continued to have a flair for the dramatic, with the “I’m dead” 💀 ranking in the top 10 for the second year in a row
— While ❤ is popular in every country, Egypt, Iraq, and Mexico were the only countries to feature 💔 in their top 10
— Spain must be eating well; this was the only country with 🤤 in the top 10
— Pucker up, India and Russia were the only two countries to feature 💋 as one of their top emoji
— Vietnam is apparently not a fan of PDA; this was the only country to not feature 😘 or 😍 in its top 10
❤
❤

6. Top Emoji Requests
4th 5th3rd1st 6th2nd
9th 10th8th7th 11th 12th
When asked what emoji they want to see created, Facemoji Keyboard users came up with the following designs:

7. Methodology
The data in this report covers emoji usage habits of Facemoji Keyboard’s Android and iOS
users between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020. Emoji rankings in this report are a reflection
of overall emoji usage frequency by emoji category and/or by country.
The data herein represents emoji usage on Facemoji Keyboard only, and does not include
any emoji usage on any other built-in or third-party keyboard apps.
This report was aggregated from data agnostic to the end user. Facemoji Keyboard never
collects any personally identifiable information from users and is fully compliant with both the
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
About Facemoji Keyboard
Facemoji Keyboard is an emoji-centric keyboard app that offers speech recognition and
emoji prediction features, as well as a wide variety of stickers, GIFs and customizable
keyboards. Facemoji supports over 120 languages and is available on Android and iOS
in over 200 countries. Facemoji Keyboard’s goal is to help people around the world
express themselves in new ways with fun, creative emoji.