Launched in 2005 as a simple video-sharing platform, YouTube has since seen exponential user growth with a rate of 34.6% each year.
With more than 2.74 billion active users, YouTube is now the second-largest media platform, trailing only behind Facebook.
What is more interesting is how people have made YouTube a part of their daily activities. Have you noticed how YouTube has shaped both the entertainment industry and everyday culture? What do you think has contributed most to its rapid growth?
Well, let’s find out! At Resoucera, we focus on industry trends and data reports, providing insightful analysis. In this report, we present YouTube’s performance for 2024-25, covering everything from Users, Demographics to Revenue, and More.
YouTube Statistics 2025: Key Facts
- YouTube’s daily active user accounts for over 122 million.
- As of today, YouTube Premium has gained more than 125 million subscribers.
- With 491 million users, India has the largest YouTube audience worldwide.
- In 2024, YouTube reported revenue of $54.2 billion.
- YouTube’s ad revenue for 2024 surpassed $36.1 billion.
- As of now, YouTube features more than 66 million creators.
- Each Minute, more than 500 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube.
- By 2025-2027, YouTube’s revenue is projected to reach over $75 billion.
YouTube Overview
Started as a basic site for sharing videos in 2005, YouTube has become the second-largest search engine after Google.
Before we go into the details, here is a quick insight into the YouTube business profile.
| YouTube Launch Date | February 14, 2005 |
| Founders | Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, Steve Chen |
| First Video Uploaded | Me at the zoo by Jawed Karim |
| Google Acquisition | 2006 |
| Acquisition Price | $1.65 billion |
| Headquarterss | San Bruno, California, United States |
| Users | 2.70+ Billion (As of 2025) |
| Valuation | $550 Billion |
| Revenue | $54.2 billion as of 2024 |
| Products | YouTube Kids, YouTube Music, YouTube Shorts, YouTube Premium And YouTube TV. |
How Many People Use YouTube in 2025?
As of 2025, YouTube has over 2.74 billion active users worldwide. This number has increased significantly from the previous year (2024) with a growth of about 20 million users.
Thus, this big number indicates that around 95% of global internet users watch YouTube.
Take a look below for detailed insights on YouTube users.
| Daily Active Users | 122 Million |
| Monthly Active Users | 2.74 Billion |
| YouTube Premium Users | 125 Million |
(Source: Business of Apps, Variety)
YouTube Daily Active Users
YouTube sees around 122 million daily active users. That means 4.52% of users watch YouTube as part of their regular online activities.
In the U.S., for instance, 62% of internet users report using YouTube daily. Isn’t that huge? I mean, this definitely indicates how important YouTube has become to people’s daily routines.
Besides this, the daily consumption of YouTube content by these users totals over 1 billion hours.
(Source: Global media insights)
YouTube Monthly Active Users
There are over 2.74 billion monthly active users on YouTube (as of April 2025). Out of which, 125 million are paid subscribers.
Note: These figures only account for logged-in users, so the actual number of people accessing YouTube content could be even higher. The term “monthly active users” refers to the number of unique users who access YouTube at least once in a given month.
This number suggests that 1/4th of the world’s population watches YouTube each month.
(Source: Business of Apps, Variety)
YouTube Users Over the Years
YouTube came into the limelight after its acquisition by Google. Before that, YouTube only had around 20 million users.
Afterward, YouTube saw steady growth and, by 2010, reached over 800 million users. And since YouTube has taken the central stage among all the social media networks, reaching the highest number of users.
The data below suggests the YouTube user growth over the years:
| Year | Number of Users |
|---|---|
| 2025 (as of April) | 2.74 Billion |
| 2024 | 2.5 Billion |
| 2023 | 2.7 Billion |
| 2022 | 2.66 Billion |
| 2021 | 2.51 Billion |
| 2020 | 2.3 Billion |
| 2019 | 2.07 Billion |
| 2018 | 1.8 Billion |
| 2017 | 1.63 Billion |
| 2016 | 1.5 Billion |
| 2015 | 1.34 Billion |
| 2014 | 1.18 Billion |
| 2013 | 1.01 Billion |
| 2012 | 0.73 Billion |
| 2011 | 0.5 Billion |
| 2010 | 0.2 Billion |
(Source: Business of Apps, GMI)
Note: These numbers may vary slightly due to differences in methodologies from sources.
YouTube Premium Users
As of 2025, YouTube Premium has around 125 million users around the globe. This includes paid as well as free trial users.
This premium version was launched in 2014 as Music Key and further rebranded as YouTube Red in 2015 and as YouTube Premium in 2018.
Since 2017, YouTube Premium has seen an increase in user subscriptions going from 2.8 million to 100 million.
Here is a quick breakdown of the number of YouTube Premium users over the years:
| Year | Number of Premium Subscribers |
|---|---|
| 2024-2025 | 125 Million |
| 2023 | 100 Million |
| 2022 | 80 Million |
| 2021 | 50 Million |
| 2020 | 30 Million |
| 2019 | 18 Million |
| 2018 | 10 Million |
| 2017 | 2.8 Million |
| 2016 | 3 Million |
| 2015 | 1.5 Million |
(Source: Variety, Business of Apps, Statista)
In addition to ad-free viewing, YouTube Premium subscribers enjoy access to YouTube Originals, music streaming, video downloads, and background playback on their devices.
YouTube User Behaviour
Each day, YouTube users watch more than 5 billion videos. These users perform 3.5 billion searches each day.
On average, a single YouTube user spends over 48 minutes each day. This means over 1 billion hours are spent watching YouTube by total users daily.
Take a look at the average time spent on YouTube each day throughout the years:
| Year | Average Time spent by users each day |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 39.7 Minutes |
| 2020 | 43.7 Minutes |
| 2021 | 45 Minutes |
| 2022 | 46.2 Minutes |
| 2023 | 47.5 Minutes |
| 2024 | 48.7 Minutes |
(Source: Oberlo)
Other than this, 500 hours of videos are uploaded on YouTube each minute. This equates to 720,000 hours of uploads each day. Daily, the typical YouTube user views around nine pages.
Educational videos, music, and entertainment are the leading genres viewers consume on YouTube. Among the top 100 YouTube searches, music accounts for 20%.
YouTube saw increased user engagement in 2024, with an average of 2.36 interactions per video, up from 2.1 in 2023.
The most liked video on YouTube is “DESPACITO” with 8.6 billion views, while the most disliked video on YouTube is “YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind” with over 20 million dislikes.
(Source: Statista 1, Statista 2)
YouTube User Demographics
Since 1/4th of the world’s population uses YouTube, we see a huge variation in YouTube user demographics.
Here is what the YouTube audience looks like:
YouTube Users by Age
The YouTube audience consists of users of all ages.
Most YouTube users, i.e., 37.20% of users, are 18 to 34 years old. This means most of the YouTube users are teenagers and the young generation.
Let’s take a closer look:
| Age | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 18-24 | 15.70% |
| 25-34 | 21.20% |
| 35-44 | 17.90% |
| 45-54 | 12.90% |
| 55-64 | 9.40% |
| 65+ | 9.50% |
YouTube Users by Gender
Globally, YouTube has a slightly male-dominated user base, with 54% of users being men while 48% are women.
Interestingly, the gender balance shifts in certain regions. In the United States, female users form the majority, accounting for 51.2%, while males represent 48.8%.
| Gender | Worldwide users | Users in the United States |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 54.3% | 48.8% |
| Female | 45.7% | 51.2% |
(Source: Statista)
When it comes to engagement, men generally spend more than women, with viewership in 90% of content categories. Some of the popular male-oriented categories include gaming and sports, while beauty and style channels are predominantly followed by women.
(Source: Digiday)
YouTube Age and Gender Intersection
As of 2025, 12.20% of the male users are aged between 25 to 34 years, while females make up 9.10% of the same age.
Across most age groups (18–24, 35–44, 45–54), male users consistently outnumber female users. However, among users aged 65 and above, females slightly surpass males (4.3% vs. 4.9%)
| Age | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| 18-24 | 9.00% | 6.50% |
| 25-34 | 12.20% | 9.10% |
| 35-44 | 9.60% | 7.90% |
| 45-54 | 6.70% | 5.80% |
| 55-64 | 4.60% | 4.60% |
| 65+ | 4.30% | 4.90% |
(Source: Statista)
YouTube Users By Country
YouTube is available in more than 100 countries and in 80 different languages.
As of 2025, India is the country with the largest YouTube user base of around 491 million users. The United States follows with around 253 million YouTube users.
Here are the countries with the most YouTube users around the globe.
| Country | Number of Users (in millions) |
|---|---|
| India | 491 |
| United States | 253 |
| Brazil | 144 |
| Indonesia | 143 |
| Mexico | 83.6 |
| Japan | 78.7 |
| Germany | 65.5 |
| Vietnam | 62.3 |
| Philippines | 57.7 |
| Turkey | 57.5 |
| Pakistan | 55.9 |
| United Kingdom | 54.8 |
| Egypt | 50.7 |
| France | 50.4 |
| Thailand | 47.6 |
| Bangladesh | 44.6 |
| South Korea | 43.4 |
| Italy | 42.2 |
| Spain | 39.7 |
| Argentina | 32.2 |
(Source: Statista)
Though India has the highest number of users, the United States dominates when it comes to views. It is reported that most of the YouTube views come from the United States, with 916 billion views per month.
Countries Banning YouTube
Other than this, there are a few countries where YouTube is banned. These are:
| Sr. No. | Country | Reason for Banning |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | North Korea | Government Regulations |
| 2. | China | Due to restrictions on foreign content |
| 3. | Iran | To prevent foreign movies and music from being seen |
| 4. | Turkmenistan | No reason is disclosed |
| 5. | Libya | Due to inappropriate picture uploads. |
| 6. | Thailand | Due to a video being deemed insulting to the king |
| 7. | Brazil | Due to a legal dispute involving a video of a celebrity |
| 8. | Turkey | Due to videos deemed offensive to Turkish culture |
YouTube Revenue Insights 2024-2025
YouTube’s revenue is reported to be $54.2 billion as of 2024. This includes earnings from ads and subscriptions.
According to Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson, YouTube will generate the highest revenue among all the video content networks in 2025.
(Source: Deadline)
Furthermore, YouTube generated over $36.15 billion in revenue through global ads, which is 15% up from 2023.
Here is the YouTube advertising revenue over the years:
| Year | Revenue (In Billion) |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.8 |
| 2011 | 1.3 |
| 2012 | 1.7 |
| 2013 | 3.1 |
| 2014 | 4.2 |
| 2015 | 5.5 |
| 2016 | 6.7 |
| 2017 | 8.1 |
| 2018 | 11.1 |
| 2019 | 15.1 |
| 2020 | 19.7 |
| 2021 | 28.2 |
| 2022 | 29.2 |
| 2023 | 31.5 |
| 2024 | 36.1 |
(Source: Business of Apps)
On the other hand, YouTube Premium and other subscription services contributed $14.5 billion to the platform’s revenue in 2024.
YouTube IAP Revenue By Region
YouTube’s in-app purchases (IAP) are a growing revenue stream, including purchases like channel memberships, comment highlights, and merchandise sales. These purchases are made via mobile devices through the YouTube app.
Here are some regional differences in revenue through IAP:
The U.S. dominated YouTube’s IAP revenue in December 2024, with users spending over $53 million via mobile devices.
| Country | YouTube IAP Revenue |
|---|---|
| United States | $53.82 million |
| Japan | $16.9 million |
| South Korea | $7.85 million |
| Mexico | $3.94 million |
| Brazil | $3.86 million |
| United Kingdom | $3.85 million |
| Australia | $3.27 million |
| Canada | $2.83 million |
| Germany | $2.59 million |
| Taiwan | $2.4 million |
(Source: Statista)
YouTube Advertisement Statistics
YouTube generated over $36.1 billion through advertising in 2024. This is over a 14.6% increase from 2023.
YouTube has been one of the leading ad-selling platforms globally. No wonder: YouTube ads can reach 2.56 billion people, which is more than half of all internet users globally and around 32% of the world’s population.
To dig into it, more than 70% of the users buy a product after seeing it on YouTube via advertising. And with the rise of YouTube Shorts, vertical videos have proven effective, delivering 10%-20% more conversions per dollar compared to landscape formats
Globally, 90% of YouTube’s audience relies on the platform as a key source for discovering fresh brands.
Further, male users dominate the YouTube ad audience, particularly those aged 25–34 (11.6%) and 35–45 (9%). Female users in these age groups account for 8.6% and 7.5%, respectively
The biggest advertiser on YouTube is Tenlira. This firm has spent over $29.4 million on YouTube ads in September and October 2023.
(Source: Business of Apps, Variety, Statista 1, Statista 2, Social Shepherd)
YouTube Penetration
In 2025, YouTube remains one of the most widely used platforms globally, with significant variations in penetration rates by country.
Saudi Arabia leads globally with a penetration rate of 95.8%, meaning nearly all adults in the country use YouTube.
The data below explains the countries with the highest YouTube penetration rate:
| Country | % of population |
|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 95.8% |
| Israel | 93.3% |
| Singapore | 91.8% |
| Sweden | 89.3% |
| Ireland | 89% |
| New Zealand | 88.7% |
| Spain | 88.1% |
| South Korea | 87.9% |
| Australia | 87.8% |
| Netherlands | 87.7% |
| Norway | 87.2% |
| United Kingdom | 87% |
| Canada | 86.7% |
(Source: Statista)
YouTube Creator Statistics
As of today, YouTube boasts over 66 million creators. Most of these YouTube creators are aged between 25 to 34 years old.
Speaking of which, MrBeast is the most popular YouTube creator with over 382 million subscribers.
Further, the most viewed YouTube channel is T-Series with more than 291 billion views.
And talking about videos, the most viewed YouTube video is Baby Shark Dance, with more than 15.6 billion views.
(Source: Exploding Topics, YouTube)
Let’s get deeper insights into the top YouTube creators as of 2025.
Top 10 YouTube Creators in 2025
Let’s take a look at the top 10 YouTube creators by earnings.
| Sr No | Creators | Earnings | Subscribers |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | MrBeast | $54 million | 382M |
| #2 | Jake Paul | $45 million | 20.9M |
| #3 | Markiplier | $38 million | 37.4M |
| #4 | Good Mythical Morning | $30 million | 19.2M |
| #5 | Like Nastya | $28 million | 126M |
| #6 | Ryan Kaji | $27 million | 39M |
| #7 | Ninja | $20 million | 23.8M |
| #8 | Dude Perfect | $20 million | 60.9M |
| #9 | Logan Paul | $18 million | 23.6M |
| #10 | Preston Arsement | $16 million | 30M |
(Source: the Money Ninja)
Long-form YouTube content typically generates an average RPM of $3, including earnings from ads, memberships, and YouTube Premium.
As of April 2025, the USA leads in RPM earnings for content creators, averaging $11.03.
(Source: Exploding Topics, Analyzify)
10 Most Subscribed YouTube Channels 2025
Here are the top 10 channels with the most subscribers:
| Sr No | YouTube Channel | Subscribers | Views |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | MrBeast | 382 Million | 77.37 Billion |
| #2 | T-Series | 290 Million | 291 Billion |
| #3 | Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes | 191 Million | 199 Billion |
| #4 | YouTube Movies | 188 Million | – |
| #5 | SET India | 183 Million | 176 Billion |
| #6 | Vlad and Niki | 137 Million | 104 Billion |
| #7 | ✿ Kids Diana Show | 132 Million | 113 Billion |
| #8 | Like Nastya | 126 Million | 111 Billion |
| #9 | Music | 125 Million | – |
| #10 | Stokes Twins | 120 Million | 20.44 Million |
(Source: Social Blade)
YouTube Traffic By Device
In 2025, mobile devices will continue to dominate YouTube traffic.
As of December 2024, 70.29% of YouTube’s global traffic came from mobile devices, while 29.71% came from desktops
(Source: Statista)
As of 2025, the YouTube app had been downloaded more than 10 billion times from the Google Play Store.
As of November 2024, South Korea led in monthly mobile YouTube app opens, with Android users averaging about 335.7 opens per month. India followed with 251.9 opens, and Thailand had 242.7.
(Source: Statista)
YouTube Shorts Statistics
YouTube Shorts has 2 billion active users monthly and more than 70 billion daily views.
To be precise, most of the YouTube Shorts traffic comes from India and the United States. The United States consists of over 164.5 million YouTube Shorts users.
More than 70% of YouTube Shorts are longer than 15 seconds. On average, YouTube shorts are between 20 to 40 seconds long.
On average, a YouTube Shorts creator earns $0.01 to $0.06 per 1000 views.
(Source: YouTube Shorts Statistics)
YouTube Podcast Statistics
YouTube Podcast has more than 1 billion active podcast users monthly.
According to Google, these users have watched over 400 million hours of podcasts each month through living room devices.
YouTube podcasts are preferred by over 31% of internet users, which is higher than those who choose Spotify or Apple podcasts.
| Podcast Services | % of users |
|---|---|
| YouTube Podcast | 31% |
| Spotify | 27% |
| Apple Podcast | 15% |
(Source: Google, Edison Research)