YouTube Statistics 2026: Shorts, Subscribers & Revenue

Introduction 

From viral cat videos to global live streams, YouTube has revolutionised how we watch and share video.

What began as a hobbyist video‑sharing site in 2005 has evolved into a media juggernaut influencing entertainment, education and marketing worldwide.

The statistics in this post reveal just how deeply YouTube is woven into our digital lives, and why it remains essential for both creators and brands.

Quick Summary ✅

• YouTube remains the world’s largest online video platform and the second-largest social network after Facebook.
• By March 2025, YouTube’s advertising audience reached 2.53 billion people – about 30.9% of the global population and 45.5% of all internet users.
• This ad‑reach represents huge potential audience for businesses and creators.

Key YouTube Statistics 📈

These figures underline YouTube’s global reach and provide context for the UK market. With a high ad‑reach rate and heavy daily usage, UK marketers can tap into a deeply engaged audience.

User Base & Demographics

Global reach

YouTube’s huge footprint stems from being available in over 100 countries and in 80 languages. DataReportal reports that advertising on the platform reached 2.53 billion users in early 2025, and Business of Apps places total monthly active users at 2.74 billion.

Age and gender breakdown

• Gender: 54.4% male vs. 45.6% female globally 
• Age: Roughly 77% of 15-35‑year‑olds use YouTube monthly 96% of U.S. 18-24‑year‑olds use YouTube, while penetration declines to 49% among users aged 65+ 

Engagement & Usage

• Daily viewing time: YouTube users spend 19 minutes per day on average
• Mobile consumption: About 63% of watch time comes from mobile devices 
• Traffic share: YouTube accounts for 25% of global mobile traffic, second only to Netflix in some markets 
• Viewership by device: Users watch more than 1 billion hours on TV screens each day

Content Creation & Channels

• Upload volume: Users upload 500+ hours of content per minute, equating to 720,000 hours per day
• Total channels: YouTube hosts over 113.9 million channels, with around 65.3 million creators participating 
• Large channels: According to the Business of Apps, 35,000 channels have more than one million subscribers
• Top channel: Indian music label T‑Series remains the most subscribed YouTube channel with over 261 million subscribers (as of mid‑2025), a testament to the platform’s global appeal

Revenue & Monetisation

• Advertising revenue: YouTube generated $36.1 billion in advertising revenue during 2024 
• Subscription revenue: YouTube’s Premium and YouTube Music services produced about $14.5 billion in subscription revenue in 2024
• Premium subscribers: The platform has 100 million paying subscribers 
• Marketplace for creators: Over 65 million creators monetise content through ads, channel memberships, Super Chat, merchandise shelf, and Shorts bonuses 

Demographics & Behaviour

• Gender distribution: Males account for 54.4% of users, females 45.6%
• Top countries: India (467 million users) and the U.S. (246 million) are the largest markets 
• Daily active users: Over 122 million people use YouTube daily 
• Mobile usage: 63% of watch time occurs on mobile devices 
• Time spent: Average user spends 19 minutes per day 

Short‑form Video (YouTube Shorts)

YouTube Shorts competes with TikTok and Instagram Reels.

• Daily views: Shorts generate 70 billion daily views 
• Adoption: YouTube has prioritised Shorts with dedicated discovery feeds and monetisation.

✨ OOB’s Thoughts ✨

YouTube is crucial for cultural discovery and trust. 

With over 2.7 billion monthly users (more than Reddit and TikTok combined), it’s one of the most influential knowledge hubs. 

At OOB, we think a winning YouTube strategy combines content that’s raw, real and provides genuine value, with smart SEO. 

Why raw > polish on YouTube

Authentic content is outperforming polish. 

Audiences aren’t looking for perfection, they’re looking for reality: captured moments of genuine conversation, storytelling, and BTS context, and with the perfect mix of short and long form content, YouTube is the place for it. 

And it’s working… YouTube Shorts now clock more than 200 billion daily views.

YouTube x SEO = brand awareness

YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, and the sixth most cited domain by ChatGPT. Over a million hours of YouTube transcriptions were used to train OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, meaning it’s not just an endless rabbithole of video content, but also a massive dataset. 

To be seen, make sure your content includes:

• Detailed metadata: Include tags, descriptions, transcripts, and verbal & written brand mentions that match what your audience is searching for
• Keywords: Add keywords into copy where it feels natural (think like a user, not an algorithm)
• Avoid the slop: Quality over quantity is true now more than ever; avoid generic, mass-produced content and focus on creating content that’s actually useful to the person searching

Conclusion

YouTube’s combination of global reach, massive content library, and strong monetisation options keeps it a dominant platform for creators and marketers. The platform’s user base continues to grow despite increased competition from TikTok and streaming services. For businesses, YouTube offers an unparalleled opportunity to reach nearly half of all internet users worldwide through both long‑form videos and short‑form Shorts.

Looking to find a social media agency?

We’re Our Own Brand (OOB), a London-based, globally fluent social media agency turning brands into cultural icons. From social media management and bespoke content creation to influencer campaigns and paid strategy, we deliver content people talk about, share, remix and remember. Trusted by the world’s boldest brands, from TikTok to Ann Summers, we create scroll-stopping work that moves culture and drives results. Built for now. Obsessed with what’s next.

Explore our social media marketing services here 💫

Sources

• datareportal.com
• businessofapps.com
• globalmediainsight.com
• notta.ai