How ChatGPT adoption broadened in early 2026

In the first quarter of 2026, consumer ChatGPT growth broadened across age groups, continued to rise among users with typically feminine names, and deepened in more countries. 

This analysis covers the messages sent on ChatGPT consumer plans (Free, Go, Plus, and Pro). Because it excludes Codex and ChatGPT enterprise and education products, it understates total workplace and educational usage.

Users with typically feminine names represented a growing share of ChatGPT usage this quarter after reaching approximate parity last year. These users account for over half of users for whom we’re able to infer gender (see gender inference methodology here⁠).

The number of messages from all age groups increased with ChatGPT’s overall growth⁠. In Q1, users under the age of 35 still accounted for the largest share of total messages, but messages from users over 35 gained share this quarter. 

We rank countries⁠ by the number of messages sent per capita to track relative country-level usage patterns. Many of the largest gains in rank this quarter came from countries outside the most established markets. The 10 fastest-rising countries point to a broadening pattern of adoption across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, and Africa. These changes reflect relative movement, not total usage.

Within work-related usage on consumer plans, creating written and visual materials continued to lead, but decreased over time while more specialized tasks became more popular. This analysis excludes Codex usage, which is likely shifting technical work toward coding agents.

The fastest-growing workplace tasks included content creation, health-related documentation, and information retrieval. These trends point to expanding adoption across professions or industries.

Overall, 2026Q1 data suggests ChatGPT is becoming a more mainstream tool: used by a broader mix of people, in more countries, and for increasingly recurring tasks. It reflects wider adoption and more embedded use. 

During the first quarter, the balance between work-related and non-work use on consumer accounts continued in line with past trends. Users appeared to leverage repeatable use cases. 

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