DHAKA: WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum announced Monday that the cross-platform mobile-messaging app now has 430 million active users. That`s up from 200 million in April 2013, which means its user base has more than doubled in less than a year.

The number of messages sent and received via WhatsApp has increased, as well, from 20 billion per day to 50 billion per day, Mashable reports.

Private messaging is becoming increasingly popular of late, especially for social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat — and yet, it seems WhatsApp continues to hold its own.

Statista`s chart, below, shows the progression of WhatsApp`s active user base and daily-message volume over the past 10 months.

BDST: 2150 HRS, JAN 21, 2013