Google’s Chrome browser is growing in popularity, and naturally that means that it’s drawing users away from the other big boys, Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Currently, Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser by a pretty wide margin, and Mozilla’s Firefox holds a slim margin over Chrome. But according to web statistics firm StatCounter, that will change by the end of this year,

Sometime in November or December, Chrome will overtake Firefox to become the second most popular browser in the world. In August we learned that Chrome is already in second place in the UK.

Chrome hit a milestone in July when their market share broke the 20% barrier. As of right now, Chrome’s global share is 23.6%. That’s a few points behind Firefox’s share of 26.8%. Both are still a pretty long way from IE’s share of 41.7%.

Here’s the thing: Chrome has increased its share 50% since January 2011 – a truly meteoric climb. During that same period, Firefox’s share has declined 13%. The intersection of these ascending and descending paths falls sometime in November. According to StatCounter, Chrome will jump to #2 in December, holding 26.6% of global use compared to Firefox’s 25.3% share.

As you can see in the above graph, IE and Firefox are falling at a similar rate. Chrome seems to be reaping all the benefits.

IE is the butt of a lot of jokes, that’s for sure. That’s what makes the lead image so funny – Firefox and Chrome battling it out while IE sits in the corner eating glue. But if you look at the chart, one could suggest that Firefox should be over in the corner eating glue with Internet Explorer.

Will Chrome continue to gain in popularity and eventually pass IE? What’s your browser of choice? Let us know in the comments.