Instagram has become a huge force in sports throughout the world.

Athletes use the social media platform to keep fans up to date with their daily lives, brag about their vacations and to promote their various sponsors.

And unlike us normal folk - who toil with filters just to impress our friends - the already mega-rich sportspeople of the world earn an absolute fortune from their Instagram accounts.

Footballers are dominant when it comes to raking in the thousands from Insta, with Cristiano Ronaldo top of the pile by a considerable distance.

The Juventus and Portugal superstar earns a whopping £784,000 per Instagram post, per Hopper HQ.

His nearest competitor is Neymar, who brings in a cool £580,000.

Lionel Messi has to settle for third, with the Argentine 'only' bringing in £521,000 every time he uploads.

You can view the full top 10 below.

SPORTS' INSTAGRAM RICH LIST

Eight of the top 10 are footballers - or ex-footballers - with LeBron James (basketball) and Viral Kohli (cricket) the only other athletes to make the list.

Gareth Bale is perhaps the most surprising inclusion at number seven, ahead of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suarez.

David Beckham and Ronaldinho are still making a fortune despite both men retiring from the professional game.

It certainly pays to be popular!

Ronaldo's dominance, though, is quite remarkable and only two people in the entire world make more than the 34-year-old per Instagram post.

They are Kylie Jenner (£1.02m) and Ariana Grande (£800k), with Ronaldo and Neymar the only two sports stars featuring in the overall top 10.