How many people use YouTube globally?

YouTube’s ads reached 2.53 billion people worldwide in early 2025, about 30 million more than a year before (DataReportal). Business of Apps estimates 2.74 billion monthly users. YouTube doesn’t publish a daily user count, but people watch over 1 billion hours of it every day. In the UK, 94% of adults online used YouTube in May 2025 (Ofcom, Online Nation 2025).

How popular are YouTube Shorts in 2025?

Figure: Projected number of YouTube Shorts users in the US (in millions), 2024 vs 2025.YouTube Shorts are extremely popular. Globally, the Shorts feed is getting around 70 billion views per daylearningrevolution.net – people can’t get enough of those quick clips! In the U.S., over 160 million people watch YouTube Shorts regularlylearningrevolution.net, and that number is projected to reach about 175 million by the end of 2025socialpilot.co. (No wonder – the average Short video is only ~33 seconds longlearningrevolution.net, making it easy to binge a bunch in one sitting.)

Are creators uploading more content, and how are they making money on YouTube in 2025?

Yes – the creator community is more active than ever, uploading over 500 hours of video to YouTube every minutecharleagency.com. On the money side, YouTube has expanded how creators earn revenue. Since early 2023, YouTubers can make ad revenue from Shorts videos too (YouTube introduced a Shorts revenue-sharing program)shopify.com. It’s paying off – in the U.S., YouTube Shorts now generate more ad revenue per watch hour than traditional long-form YouTube videosmusicbusinessworldwide.com, showing how lucrative short-form content has become for creators.

How big is YouTube advertising in 2027?

Big, and still growing. Alphabet reported $11.06 billion of YouTube ad revenue in Q2 2026, up 13% on a year earlier, and said YouTube’s ads and subscriptions together brought in more than $60 billion in 2025 (Alphabet results, sec.gov ). Marketers are clearly still pouring budget into it.

Do YouTube ads actually work for brands (what’s the ROI like)?

By most accounts, yes – YouTube ads deliver solid results for brands. In fact, advertisers have seen about 3× higher purchase intent impact from YouTube campaigns compared to not advertising on YouTubesocialpilot.co. And some newer formats are especially effective: for example, vertical video ads on YouTube Shorts drive ~10–20% more conversions per dollar spent than the traditional horizontal video ads dolearningrevolution.net. In short, a well-run YouTube ad campaign can be very worth it.

What kinds of ad formats are brands using on YouTube in 2025?

Brands still use the classic skippable in-stream video ads (the ones you can skip after 5 seconds) and the short 6-second bumper ads, but they’re also leaning into newer options. A big trend in 2025 is advertising on YouTube Shorts – those vertical video ads that appear between short clips are reaching a massive mobile audiencelearningrevolution.net. Also, YouTube on TV has exploded (viewers now watch over 1 billion hours of YouTube on TV screens each daysocialpilot.co), so many advertisers are treating YouTube like traditional TV and running more ads optimized for the big screen experience.

YouTube Statistics 2027: Users, Revenue & Key Data

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 📈

Metric	Statistic	Source
Monthly Active Users (MAU)	YouTube had roughly 2.74 billion monthly active users worldwide in 2024, with growth continuing into 2025	businessofapps.com
Daily viewing	Over 1 billion hours of video are watched on YouTube every day	globalmediainsight.com
Advertising Reach	YouTube ads reached 2.53 billion users in January 2025, up 1.6 % (39.7 million people) vs. January 2024	datareportal.com
Average Viewing Time	Users spend approximately 19 minutes per day on the platform	globalmediainsight.com
Content Uploaded	More than 500 hours of video are uploaded every minute – totaling 720,000 hours per day	globalmediainsight.com
YouTube Shorts	Launched in 2020, YouTube Shorts now generate 200 billion daily views	demandsage.com
Premium Subscribers	YouTube Premium (and Music) subscribers reached 100 million by early 2024	businessofapps.com
Subscriptions Revenue	In 2024 YouTube generated $14.5 billion in subscription revenue, while advertising generated $36.1 billion	businessofapps.com
Number of Channels	There are more than 113.9 million active channels, and 35,000 channels have over one million subscribers	globalmediainsight.com, businessofapps.com
Gender Distribution	Men account for approximately 54.4% of YouTube’s global users, while 45.6% are female	globalmediainsight.com
Top Geographies	India has the largest YouTube audience (approx. 467 million users), followed by the United States (246 million)	notta.ai

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.

In the UK, YouTube is the most-used social or video platform of all. Ofcom found it reached 94% of adults online in May 2025, and the average adult visitor spent 51 minutes a day on it, up from 47 minutes in 2024 (not counting viewing on the TV set). For 18 to 34s it was 1 hour 28 minutes a day (ofcom.org.uk, Online Nation 2025). DataReportal puts YouTube’s UK ad reach at 55.5 million people, 79.7% of the population (datareportal.com, Digital 2026 UK).

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
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

For the full cross-platform picture, see our hub of UK social media statistics, covering usage, demographics and adspend in one place.

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

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