It was only imaginable in the past years until Uber came onboard and redefined the ridesharing marketplace. Most people thought it’s never going to thrive considering all the circumstances that were stacked up against it.
Regardless, Uber is arguably the most successful company in the new economy, boosting its valuation to well over $72 billion since its inception in 2009. Revenue to gig apps is rising quickly as well. The truth be told, only a few companies can boast of disrupting the business world in the last five years than Uber Technologies.
Uber’s impact has been felt not only in the monopoly of the taxicab industry, the world sees it as the face of the on-demand economy, with a business model that dozens of startup companies servicing different industries can leverage upon as a template.
Whether you’re a startup, an online marketer, a B2B agency, or you’re just a fan of the ridesharing business model, you can benefit a lot from Uber’s strategy. However, to help you understand Uber and their journey so far, here are 20 Uber statistics you’d be excited to know:
Uber Company’s Profile
- Uber has its headquarters in San Francisco, California.
- Uber is both available on iOS and Android devices.
- The idea of Uber was born in a snowy evening in Paris, when Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanic (co-founded) couldn’t get a cab.
- Uber was launched in 2009
- Uber currently has over 19,000 employees worldwide.
Uber Fun Facts
- 14% of Uber’s drivers are female.
- Lyft, the largest competitor of Uber generates a fraction of Uber’s annual revenue.
- In July 2012, Uber started delivering Ice cream, gelato, whippy, and glace on-demand in 7 cities across the US.
- Uber partnered with animal shelters across the United States to launch UberKittens in August 2014.
- In Q2 2014, 100 cities enjoyed Uber.
- Uber teams up with MADD to reduce drunk driving and keep the city safer.
- Ella Melanie is the first baby born to parents riding with Uber in 2015.
- In December 2017, Uber’s self-driving and autonomous vehicles drive 2 million miles.
- UberEATS is a key driver of the company’s revenue and is fast-growing meal delivery service in the United States.
- The most ordered foods on UberEATs was chips in Australia.
Uber Lost Items
According to Uber’s Lost & Found Index, the most commonly forgotten items are:
- Phone
- Camera
- Wallet
- Keys
- Purse / Backpack
- Clothing
- Glasses
- Headphones
- Vape / E-cig
- ID / License
Uber Users & Demographics Statistics
1. Uber currently has 75 million riders and 3 million drivers globally
Although Uber’s drivers aren’t always the company’s biggest fans, these drivers are the backbone of the company. Uber announced they now have 75 million riders and 3 million drivers worldwide helping to make their vision of simplifying transportation.
When the company launched 38 new features as part of a “180 Days of Change” pledge, the aim is to make improvements to drivers who have not had the best of experiences with Uber.
3 million drivers all around the world is huge, but when you consider there are over 800,000 in the United States alone, you might be tempted to question this figure since the company operates in over 60 countries and counting.
2. Australians took Uber rides in 614 cities across 80 countries in 2017
Uber has truly entered Australia and the people are embracing the lifestyle. After all, Uber makes city commuting cheaper and more convenient. But Aussies aren’t just enjoying Uber in their locality, they’re brazing trails.
According to Uber’s official website, Aussie riders’ preferred countries to visit are the U.S. UK, New Zealand, Singapore, and France. This led to 614 cities and 80 countries that were explored in 2017.
This is good news for Aussies considering how UberX first made headway in Australia back in April 2014. Fast-forward to 2018, a number of ride-sharing companies including the female-only service Shebah, have been in operation.
3. In a survey to determine the frequency of Uber usage among ridesharing service users in the U.S. in 2016, 25% of users stated they use Uber at least once per month
For the better part of a decade, ridesharing apps have been one of the growing business models. So how often do you use Uber since Uber is cheaper and more convenient than a local cab, and all payments are safely carried out through the app on a stored credit card, so you don’t have to worry about carrying cash?
That’s the exact question that was sent out to millions of people when Statista conducted a survey to determine the frequency of Uber usage in the United States. According to the results, 25% of ridesharing service users said they use Uber at least once per month.
In fact, 36% of people book Uber or Ola 2 to 3 times per week. For the Uber driver, though, this question might be irrelevant since they use it almost all the time.
4. Uber recorded a total of 5 billion rides in 2017
How long does it take for a startup company that started in 2009 to reach a huge milestone? Well, it depends on the company’s vision, the game plan, and how much impact that would make on the end user.
In the case of Uber, it took 6 years for the company to complete a billion rides. This happened around the Christmas period in 2015. Fast forward to 6 months later and Uber has completed their 2 billion rides. And now on May 20, 2017, Uber recorded 5 billion rides in 6 continents, across 450+ cities.
Since a six months time frame is 180 days, it means that Uber provided 230,000 rides every hour or an average of 5.5 million rides a day to hit their target of 2 billion in 2016, plus millions of rides to reach 5 billion in 2017. To celebrate the milestone and chart a course for the future, the CEO and co-founder of Uber, Travis Kalanick took to Twitter to let the world know.
5. Uber operates in 83 countries and over 858 cities worldwide
Uber has worldwide impact and currently exists in more than 83 countries and over 855 cities of the world. The most interesting part is the undiluted experience the ride-hailing service offers you. Being a business traveler, all one need is a budget VPN and Uber to make any place easier to live and get around.
According to UberEstimator, a tool that breaks down Uber’s coverage around the world. New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are popularly known as Ubercabs cities because they’re the most active in the west, while Uber China and Uber Brazil are gaining strong momentum also. Uber India is steadily gaining traction in the east.
6. Uber users in the United States amounted to 41.8 million in March 2018
This research was done to determine the total number of users who are actively using Uber. By active, it means that they use Uber at least once a month. From January to March 2018, the number of active users grew significantly – reaching 41.8 million.
Interestingly, this shows that Uber is still at the forefront of the ridesharing market, especially when you consider that Lyft has 32 million users in the United States within the same period of this study. Uber isn’t pulling the brakes on its services around the world yet. As the company continues to grow and outsmart its competitors, there’s a need to bring new people on board, get them trained, and deploy them.
According to The Verge, more than 19,000 employees worldwide and thousands of drivers (63.9% male drivers in 2017) have been the backbone of the ridesharing giant, Uber.
In particular, the employees are spread out to work on several arms of Uber such as UberEATS, UberBLACK, UberASSIST, UberPOOL, UberSELECT, etc.
7. The most common item to be forgotten in an Uber and found is a phone
With an Uber ride, you don’t have to worry about losing your item if peradventure you forget it. There’s no need to panic when you realize that your personal item has been left behind in your Uber. The company now has what’s called “The Uber Lost & Found Index.” According to this Index, though, the mobile phone is the most common item to be forgotten by passengers in an Uber.
Once you realize that you’ve forgotten your phone or any item, Tap “Contact my driver about a lost item” on your Uber app. That’s all! The good news is that the lost item was found, and after a due process, it’s returned to the owner. So no worries!
8. Uber fulfills 40 million rides monthly and has over 77% of the U.S. Peer-to-Peer ridesharing market
Taxi services isn’t a new concept in the United States. As a developed country, it’s seen and enjoyed a modern transportation system. But something remarkable happened when Uber Technologies came on the scene. The underserved ridesharing market quickly becomes a hot market with several rivals (such as Lyft, Taxify, etc.) coming in to compete with Uber.
Regardless, Uber has built trust over the years and have developed a system to reward its drivers and employees so they pour out their hearts to make customers happy. Hence, Uber consistently fulfills 40 million rides every month in the U.S. and has dominated the market by 77%.
Uber, which Kalanick co-founded in 2009, is still growing and now operates in over 500 cities around the globe. It provides a range of services: a low-cost ride program, a meal delivery service (UberEATS), and even rides in black cars, among others.
Uber Drivers Statistics
9. An Uber driver earns an average income of about $364/month
Is the sharing economy lucrative for drivers? How much on average are drivers making from Uber? The “Gig economy” or “Sharing economy” was a term which was coined shortly after the financial crisis in 2009. Here’s how the gig economy works:
A handful of key players such as Airbnb, Uber, TaskRabbit, Lyft, employ temporary workers as freelancers who provide ridesharing and other tasks.
These companies are helping both drivers and other people earn a side income. According to a Pew study, it’s estimated that nearly a quarter of all Americans earn some money through one or more of these companies.
In particular, an Uber driver earns an average of $364 per month.
Both Uber and Lyft drivers seem to earn approximately the same amount of money per month, although drivers who take advantage of both platforms earn more on Uber. Airbnb hosts seem to earn more — nearly half of hosts earn more than $500 per month.
10. Over 160,000 active drivers in the U.S. received $656.8m of payments during Q4 2014
Knowing how much an Uber driver earns per month is good but it may not help you completely if you’re looking at the long-term impact.
In the Q4 of 2014, a total of $656.8 million was paid out to over 160,000 active Uber drivers in the U.S. This number grew to 1.5 million drivers by 2017 with over $3 billion payments issued out already. [source]
The growth rate of Uber is directly the cause of the decrease in traditional taxi usage. Drivers are getting onboard — since the ridesharing model is more convenient for them. In most developing countries, an Uber driver can also do the traditional taxi service and this adds up to a sizable amount each month.
11. Uber drivers earned $600 million in tips in the feature’s first year
Should you tip an Uber driver? If yes, how much?
The answer is yes. If you’ve been giving a great service, you can tip your driver and just move on. How much depends on you. After all, it’s from your good heart and there’s no widely accepted standard.
Once the Tipping option was added to the Uber app, in its first year, Uber drivers earned $600 million in tips. That’s impressive. Tipping is not always expected but it’s appreciated by Uber drivers. Most of the drivers complain about reduced fares, which means they have to work extra hours to earn what they previously would earn.
A good way to compensate and motivate a driver is to ‘tip’ them. This will reduce the discrepancy in pay. With the “Tipping Option” available in your ridesharing app, it’s now easier than you can ever imagine. The good part is that with Uber’s tipping system which is quite similar to Lyft’s, drivers can’t write negative reviews if a rider chooses to tip a low amount or not at all.
Uber Financial Statistics
12. Uber net annual revenue in Q2 2018 was $2.7 billion
Although Uber has been losing money ($2.6 billion in 2016), it’s continued to generate significant revenue all the same. Its sales growth has remained steady and strong. Uber’s Q2 2018 net revenue was $2.7 billion — a growth rate of 51% from the same quarter last year, and gross bookings were $12 billion, up 41% year-over-year.
That’s an increase of 51% from the same quarter in 2017, and gross bookings reached $12 billion. As a private ride-hailing company, now worth $70 billion, it’s hard to find its financial results publicly. Hence, after Bloomberg reported the results, Uber confirmed the figures in a statement sent via email.
Even though Uber didn’t report first-quarter figures, a spokesperson for the company said they “seem to be in line with expectations.”
13. Uber received a $500 million investment from Toyota in 2018
Uber is venturing into autonomous vehicles like Tesla and the likes. Hence, in a round of funding, Toyota invested $500 million in Uber and the aim is to work more closely with Uber to speed up the development of self-driving vehicles.
Uber plans to begin real-world testing in 2021, that’s after it retrofits Toyota Sienna minivans with state-of-the-art autonomous technology. Tech companies are Automakers seem to have good working relationships in the past decade. It’s obvious that car ownership also gives way to mobility as a service, so it’s a win/win for both players.
This isn’t the first time such relationships will be happening. If you remember, Waymo, for example, buys custom-made vehicles from Jaguar Land Rover and Chrysler. It’s good to know that other investors were also interested in the ridesharing app and clipped in another $2.1 billion, which means the valuation is $68.1 billion for the total $5.6 billion round when you include the cash (post-money).
SoftBank also invested $1.25 billion in Uber, which adds up to around $70. According to recode, it’s conceivable that Uber is now worth around $72 billion, with regards to rounding, on private markets.
Conclusion
It’s not always easy to see a startup that thrives in an underserved market. But Uber did it and several other ridesharing service companies are also enjoying the trail that Uber has blazed.
Drivers all over the world, even though most of them aren’t happy with their monthly earnings with Uber, are appreciative of the fact that they make extra money from the company.
Note: We’ll keep this Uber statistics’ page updated accordingly. So keep coming back for more.