the emoji report

Which emojis are going extinct?

Emoticons are so 1982. We've come a long way from creating a face using dots and dashes. Today, Google and Apple have made emojis a core feature of their messaging apps. But, as popularity is fickle, which emojis are starting to fall out of favor?

We’ve analyzed the usage and search volume of the top 100 emojis worldwide to discover which have fallen in popularity and are most likely to go extinct.

The most endangered emojis

The 14 emojis decreasing in use globally

We’ve discovered the 14 emojis decreasing in use around the world and at risk of being ‘endangered’. Everything is not ‘okay’. Especially for the 👌 ‘okay hand symbol’ as it tops our endangered list. The 😳 ‘flushed face’ takes second place and the 🙌 ‘person raising both hands in celebration’ is third. Could we see these emojis disappear altogether in the next few years?

the question

Is emoji use declining overall?

Recent reports suggest that emoji use differs by age and gender. A 2023 Statista survey found that 1/10 men said they never used emojis, compared to 1/20 women. A YouGov poll also discovered that emoji usage decreased as age increased, with 15% of those aged 65 and above reporting never using an emoji, compared to only 3% of respondents ages 18 to 44. Although emojis remain popular, their use is ever-changing. The reasons for this range from certain symbols becoming associated with hate groups to the continuing creation of new emojis.

The most endangered emojis by country

Both the UK and the US had the 😏’smirking face’ as the most endangered emoji. Whereas across Europe, the 😱 ’face screaming in fear’ emoji was the most endangered in France and Germany. ​​In Asia, the 👌 ’ok hand’ emoji was the most endangered in Thailand.

The most endangered emoji in the US

The 💁 ’information desk person’ emoji is the most endangered emoji in almost every city, with only a few exceptions, El Paso, Virginia Beach, Long Beach and Tulsa. The 😏 ’smirking face’ emoji is the least popular endangered emoji in most U.S. cities analyzed, as it appears to be the least popular emoji in 40 of the 56 cities.

A moment of silence...

The most endangered emojis vary more than the most popular ones. The 👌 ‘okay hand’ emoji is the least popular in several major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Miami, and Oakland.


Some states show consistency in emoji preferences across multiple cities. For instance, in California, the 👌 ‘okay hand’ emoji is the least popular emoji in several cities, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland. At the same time, the 😏 ‘smirking face’ emoji is also frequently the least popular.


El Paso, TX, is unique – the 😳 ‘flushed face’ emoji is the least popular, and the 😄 ‘smiling face with open mouth and smiling eyes’ emoji is the most popular, differing significantly from trends in other cities.

The next evolution of emojis

We’ve looked at the emojis that are losing popularity. But which new ones do we think should be added to the mix? Apple and Google, you can thank us later.

Want to start using these emojis today? Download the whole collection as stickers on WhatsApp now.

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Girl dinnerrr! Girl dinnerrr! Girl dinnerrrrrr! Let your girls know you’re enjoying a little snack plate.

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the emoji report

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Methodology

Using EmojiTracker.com and EmojiStats.com, we pulled the 100 most popular emojis twice a year (June and January) when available from 2013 to 2024 using the WayBack Machine to analyze which emojis have fallen in popularity to determine the emojis with the highest probability of going extinct. Using KeywordTool, we then analyzed which of the least popular emojis was searched for the least in every country and the popular cities in the US to reveal which emoji was set to go extinct in that particular region. Data accurate as of May 29, 2024.