Ethiopian Telegram in numbers: channels, topics, languages and age
Our catalog holds 2,733 public channels that are written in Amharic or Afaan Oromo, labelled with Ethiopia as their region, or tagged as being about Ethiopia. These counts describe that catalog, not every Ethiopian channel on Telegram and not the number of Telegram users in the country.
Prepared 18 October 2026 · Catalog extracted 6 October 2026
How many channels we count
The 2,733 channels all have at least 1,000 subscribers and an analysed topic profile. 1,169 have 10,000 or more subscribers and 127 have 100,000 or more; none in this set passes one million. Added together their catalog subscriber counts reach 59,476,232, but one person can follow dozens of channels, so that total is not an audience size.
We do not estimate how many people in Ethiopia use Telegram. A count of channels cannot answer that question, and subscriber totals double-count readers who follow several channels.
| Subscribers | Channels | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 – 9,999 | 1,564 | 57% |
| 10,000 – 99,999 | 1,042 | 38% |
| 100,000 – 999,999 | 127 | 5% |
| 1,000,000 or more | 0 | 0% |
What Ethiopian channels are about
Religion is the largest topic: 704 channels, about 26% of the set, most of them Orthodox Christian or Muslim teaching and hymn channels. Education, entertainment and news follow. Shopping, business, sport, health, technology and jobs each account for a smaller share, but several of these groups hold some of the largest single channels.
| Topic | Channels | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Religion | 704 | |
| Education | 379 | |
| Entertainment & events | 318 | |
| News & politics | 306 | |
| Shopping | 113 | |
| Business & finance | 112 | |
| Sport | 106 | |
| Health | 66 | |
| Humour | 66 | |
| Technology | 63 | |
| Jobs | 63 | |
| Films | 44 | |
| Motivation | 38 | |
| Crypto | 38 | |
| Music | 37 | |
| Books | 14 | |
| Other | 266 |
Which languages they use
2,149 channels (79%) are labelled Amharic by our language detector, 120 Afaan Oromo and 451 English. The detector reads a sample of recent posts, so a bilingual channel is counted under the language that dominates those posts. It has no separate label for Tigrinya, which uses the same script as Amharic.
| Language | Channels | Share | Posted within 30 days | Created June 2021 or earlier | Median est. views / post |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amharic | 2,149 | 79% | 42% | 53% | ≈ 3,016 |
| Afaan Oromo | 120 | 4% | 41% | 42% | ≈ 1,976 |
| English | 451 | 17% | 43% | 51% | ≈ 2,919 |
| Other | 13 | 0% | — | — | — |
How old the channels are
Telegram assigns channel IDs in ranges that roughly follow the date of creation. Using those ranges, 52% of the channels we could read were created in June 2021 or earlier, and 7% in August 2024 or later. The newest groups are concentrated in football, crypto and trading; religious and shopping channels are older on average.
| Created | Channels | Share |
|---|---|---|
| June 2021 or earlier | 1,415 | |
| June 2021 – March 2023 | 607 | |
| March 2023 – August 2024 | 460 | |
| August 2024 or later | 193 | |
| Unknown | 35 |
How many were recently active
For each channel we compare the date of the last post our analyser saw with the date of that analysis. 42% had posted within the previous 30 days and 18% had not posted for over a year. Analyses ran between June and August 2026, so this is a historical activity check rather than a live status.
| Last post before analysis | Channels | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Within 30 days | 1,137 | |
| 31–180 days | 667 | |
| 181–365 days | 248 | |
| Over a year | 475 | |
| No post date | 183 |
The largest channels in the catalog
The table lists the ten largest records by catalog subscribers. Several use the names of companies or public bodies; a name alone does not prove who runs a channel, so those rows are marked. Film-sharing channels are left out because we cannot check the rights to what they post.
| Channel | Subscribers | Est. views / post | Last observed post | Created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-3-3 ስፖርት በኢትዮጵያ@sport_433et · Amharic · region label: InternationalOpen in Telegram → | 579,311 | ≈ 17,959Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 11 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 – March 2023 |
| ABDII SABAA@abdii_sabaa · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaOpen in Telegram → | 545,839 | ≈ 35,480Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 9 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
| Immigration And Citizenship Service (ICS Ethiopia)@ics_ethiopia · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaName refers to an organisation; ownership not verifiedOpen in Telegram → | 465,139 | Not usedNo usable reach observation | 1 Aug 2026Analysed 1 Aug 2026 | March 2023 – August 2024 |
| ማን ዩናይትድ ኢትዮ ፋንስ@man_united_ethio_fans · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaOpen in Telegram → | 427,688 | ≈ 34,215Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 11 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
| Tikvah-University@tikvahuniversity · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaOpen in Telegram → | 362,553 | ≈ 39,881Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 9 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
| telebirr@telebirr · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaName refers to an organisation; ownership not verifiedOpen in Telegram → | 314,241 | ≈ 21,683Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 6 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
| 4-3-3 FAST SPORT@fast_sport4_3_3 · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaOpen in Telegram → | 313,454 | ≈ 2,194Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 12 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
| Ethio telecom@ethio_telecom · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaName refers to an organisation; ownership not verifiedOpen in Telegram → | 311,765 | ≈ 19,329Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 6 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
| EffoyJobs - Effoysira.com@effoyjobs · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaOpen in Telegram → | 303,553 | ≈ 36,426Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 10 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
| Harmeejobs.com@harmeejobs · Amharic · region label: EthiopiaOpen in Telegram → | 291,046 | ≈ 34,926Analysis: 12 Jun 2026 | 8 Jun 2026Analysed 12 Jun 2026 | June 2021 or earlier |
Quick checklist
- Decide whether you need a language (Amharic, Afaan Oromo) or a place (Ethiopia).
- Pick a topic page for a dated sample and the matching ranked list.
- Open a channel profile and compare its last post with today.
- Use subscriber counts to compare channels, never to estimate users.
Read next
Questions
How many Telegram users are there in Ethiopia?
This catalog cannot tell you. It counts channels and their subscribers. Subscriber totals double-count people who follow several channels and include readers outside Ethiopia.
What is the most subscribed Ethiopian Telegram channel?
In this catalog copy the largest record is @sport_433et with 579,311 subscribers. Subscriber counts change and can include inactive accounts, so compare recent posts and views as well.
Why are some well-known channels missing?
The catalog only contains channels we have discovered and analysed with at least 1,000 subscribers. Private channels, groups and very new channels are underrepresented.
About these data
The channel set was extracted on 6 October 2026 from TGScope’s catalog of analysed public channels with at least 1,000 subscribers. A channel is included when its posts are detected as Amharic or Afaan Oromo, its estimated audience region mentions Ethiopia or an Ethiopian region, or its topic tags describe Ethiopia. Adult content is excluded from the set.
Activity, age and reach fields were re-read on 18 October 2026 from the same catalog copy; 23 usernames could not be matched. The newest catalog check in this copy is dated 1 October 2026, the newest content analysis 13 August 2026 and the newest observed post 12 August 2026. Nothing here is a live Telegram check. Creation windows come from the ranges in which Telegram issues channel IDs.
Estimated views per post are catalog subscribers multiplied by the recorded views-to-subscribers ratio. We use that figure only for channels with 10,000 or more subscribers, analysed before 27 July 2026, with a post observed within 30 days before the analysis, and never the known placeholder ratio (583 channels carry it). “Not used” does not mean zero views.
Samples leave out channels with signals of adult content, betting, pirated files or full-film sharing, and topic samples leave out names that claim a ministry, bureau or other official body. Inclusion is not an endorsement, and a name is never proof of who runs a channel. Counts are of channels, not people.