YouTube’s creator economy contributed Rs 6,800 cr to the GDP in 2020

Your favourite YouTube baker, plant collector, and science expert, does not only entertain you but also contribute significantly to a creator economy. This creator economy on YouTube contributed Rs 6,800 crore to India's GDP and raised 6,83,900 full-time jobs in 2020, according to a report by consulting firm Oxford Economics in collaboration with YouTube.

YouTube's creator economy comprises people who build audiences online and find a way to make money from those audiences and usually make a living from their social media work. Assessing YouTube’s economic, societal, and cultural impact in India, the report said that the creator economy in the country has the potential to emerge as a soft-power impacting economic growth, job creation, and even cultural influence.

Since 2007, YouTube has been selling advertisements and paying creators after they reach a certain level of popularity. When YouTube makes more money, so do the creators. Some people make money from online popularity through selling merchandise, getting paid by their fans, or signing company deals.

The report highlights that these revenue sources not only support jobs and income for creative entrepreneurs themselves, but also wider activity in supply chains. 

 

There are 40,000 channels in India with over 1,00,000 subscribers, marking a growth of over 45 per cent, year-on-year, as more Indian creators find opportunities and audiences on YouTube, often leading to new doorways away from the platform, the report said.

“The creator economy in the country has the potential to emerge as a soft-power impacting economic growth, job creation, and even cultural influence. As our creators and artists build the next generation of media companies that are connecting with a global audience, their impact on the economy’s overall success will only continue to accelerate,” Ajay Vidyasagar, Regional Director, APAC, YouTube Partnerships. 

In India, over 80 per cent of creative entrepreneurs said that the platform has had a positive impact on their professional goals, the report found. With eight different ways to monetise content on the platform, the number of YouTube channels making six figures or more in revenue grew more than 60 per cent year on year.

Further, YouTube has become a significant tool for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), 92 per cent of SMBs with a YouTube channel agreed that YouTube helps them reach new audiences across the world.

"Our research shows that YouTube fosters significant positive impacts for Indian creators in terms of helping them achieve their professional goals and grow their businesses," Adrian Cooper, CEO Oxford Economics.