YouTube Statistics 2024: How many people actually use Youtube?

YouTube Statistics 2023

Last updated: 21.08.2023 Reading time: 12 Min.

YouTube is undoubtedly the most popular video platform, and it's no wonder why.

Think of any kind of video, and YouTube has it. Beauty tips, product reviews, gaming sessions and even long, in-depth unboxing videos - it's got it all! 🎮

Want to learn more about this popular site and its huge user base?

Then stick around as we break down the numbers and give you the most important YouTube stats and facts for 2023.

YouTube statistics 2023

Most important points at a glance

  • YouTube is a video-sharing platform that was launched in 2005.
  • Every month, more than 2.5 billion people worldwide use YouTube.
  • The platform is also very popular in the UK, with 42.86 million people regularly watching.
  • The subscription-based YouTube Premium has a stable user base of 80 million people worldwide.
  • YouTube is home to a wide range of genres and topics.
  • On average, users worldwide spend 1777 seconds per session on YouTube - that's almost 30 minutes!
  • In the UK, Ed Sheeran's channel has the most subscribers.
  • In 2022, YouTube generated an estimated turnover of US $29.24 billion.
  • The top earner on YouTube in 2022 was Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, with an estimated income of US $54 million.

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a popular website that offers users a platform to watch, share and comment on videos. 📹

It was founded on 14 February 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former employees of the American e-commerce company PayPal.

YouTube was supposed to be a platform where ordinary people could share their "home videos."

The first video was uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim on 23 April and was titled "Me at the Zoo."

It is a 19-second clip of Karim at the San Diego Zoo.

In 2006, Google bought YouTube for US $1.65 billion. 💵

Since then, YouTube has continued to evolve, adding features such as ratings, comments, live streaming and revenue sharing to improve the experience for content creators.

Today, there is a wide variety of content on the platform. The most popular include music videos, game videos, vlogs and tutorials.

How many YouTube users are there worldwide and in the UK?

YouTube is a prevalent video streaming platform around 2.5 billion people use monthly.

Total number of YouTube users
Total number of YouTube users as of Q1, 2023. Image: © Smart Home Fox

It's one of the biggest social media platforms, second only to Facebook.

Facebook is even bigger: almost three billion people use it every month. 👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏻

Here's how many people used YouTube in the first quarter of this year:

Year Number of YouTube users worldwide
(in billions)
Quarter 1 of 2023 2688

But if you look at the number of people using YouTube, you'll see that it has increased significantly.

Monthly active YouTube users
Over the past 12 years, monthly users have seen a notable rise. Image: © Smart Home Fox

This is what the increase in monthly users looks like from 2010 to 2022:

Year Monthly active YouTube users worldwide (in millions)
2010 389
2011 611
2012 856
2013 1101
2014 1268
2015 1412
2016 1572
2017 1723
2018 1929
2019 2202
2020 2409
2021 2598
2022 2681

In the last 12 years, YouTube's user base has grown by 589%. 📈

Meanwhile, more than half of all internet users - about 51.2% - watch YouTube videos at least once a month.

YouTube Premium subscribers

YouTube Premium is a special version of YouTube that you can pay for.

It lets you listen to music without ads, just like Spotify. 🎶

In 2021, about 50 million people used YouTube Premium.

In 2022, this number increased to 80 million.

YouTube premium subscribers from 2015 to 2022
Over the past 7 years, YouTube Premium subscriptions have seen a 5233% increase. Image: © Smart Home Fox

This is how YouTube Premium has developed over the last eight years:

Year YouTube Premium subscribers
(in millions)
2015 1.5
2016 3
2017 2.8
2018 10
2019 18
2020 30
2021 50
2022 80

But YouTube Premium offers more than just an ad-free video experience.

It allows videos to play in the background even when the app is closed.

Before, only members with a Premium subscription could watch videos in 4K quality. Now, even those who are not subscribed can enjoy videos in 4K.

Even though that's no longer the case, there's still much to like about YouTube Premium.

Daily active YouTube users

Daily active YouTube users (DAUs) refers to how many people use YouTube daily. 👀

Monthly statistics are useful to see how many people use YouTube in general, but looking at daily numbers can show us more detail.

In the UK, almost half of all YouTube users - about 46% - visit the site daily.

This means that over 16.3 million people in the UK use YouTube every day.

And they don't just visit the site. Users all over the world watch more than 1 billion hours of videos on YouTube daily.

On average, a person spends about 16 minutes and 44 seconds on YouTube every day.

And there is always something new to watch. Over 500 hours of new videos are uploaded every minute. ⏰

That means there are 720,000 hours of new content on YouTube every day!

Age and gender distribution of global YouTube users

Wondering who watches YouTube all over the world?

Let's look closer at the age and gender of YouTube users worldwide. 👀

Gender of global YouTube users

When it comes to the global YouTube audience, the gender distribution is pretty even. 👫🏼

Men make up a slight majority, with 53.9% worldwide YouTube users.

Women are not far behind, with 46.1% of the worldwide user base.

Gender comparison of Youtube users worldwide.
Comparing the gender distribution of YouTube users globally. Image: © Smart Home Fox

This almost balanced distribution underlines the YouTube community's diversity and the platform's universal appeal.

Age of global YouTube users

Regardless of age, YouTube seems to have an appeal.

From young people just learning to use the internet to senior citizens who have discovered the digital age for themselves, the worldwide YouTube audience includes all age groups. 👧🏼 👵🏼

Age comparison of Youtube users worldwide.
Comparing the age distribution of YouTube users globally. Image: © Smart Home Fox

Here's a breakdown of the age-wise distribution of YouTube users globally:

Age group User percentage
18 to 24 years 14.5%
25 to 34 years 20.2%
35 to 44 years 16.5%
45 to 54 years 11.9%
55 to 64 years 8.9%
65 years and above 9.7%

Here's how YouTube users are spread across different age groups and genders:

For a more detailed view of the data, check this out:

Age group Men Women
18 to 24 years 8.5% 6%
25 to 34 years 11.6% 8.6%
35 to 44 years 9% 7.5%
45 to 54 years 6.2% 5.7%
55 to 64 years 4.4% 4.5%
65 years and above 4.3% 5.4%

So, most YouTube users around the world are aged between 25 and 34.

YouTube users in the UK

YouTube is also a big hit in the UK. 🇬🇧

With 35% of the population using it frequently, whether for fun or information, YouTube has a firm foothold in the UK.

Let's take a look at this graph that tracks the growth of YouTube in the UK:

For an in-depth understanding, check out these detailed statistics:

Year YouTube users in the UK
(in millions)
2017 33.38
2018 39.5
2019 38.49
2020 41.57
2021 41.4
2022 42.86

The popularity of YouTube in the UK is obvious.

About 97% of British YouTube users log on to the platform at least once a month.

When it comes to weekly activity, 88% of UK users watch videos every week. 🗓️

Almost half of these users, 46%, watch YouTube content daily, showing that the platform is an integral part of their daily routine.

Age group of YouTube users in the UK

Users of different ages are on YouTube, and if we look at the specific age distribution, we can gain insight into who uses YouTube and how. 🧐

Here is a detailed breakdown of the age groups of YouTube users in the UK:

Age group User percentage
16 to 24 years 89%
25 to 34 years 86%
35 to 44 years 82%
45 to 54 years 74%
55 to 64 years 74%
65 years and above 52%

Most YouTube users in the UK fall into the age range of 16 to 64 years.

Gender of YouTube users in the UK

YouTube appeals to a broad spectrum of users, regardless of gender. 👩‍❤️‍👨

More men than women in the UK use YouTube, but it's almost equally distributed.

To be precise, about 53.9% of YouTube users are men, and 46.1% are women.

Youtube users distribution by gender in the UK.
Comparing the gender distribution of YouTube users in the UK. Image: © Smart Home Fox

This almost equal distribution is also common in other parts of the world and shows that YouTube is popular with men and women.

How popular is YouTube compared to other social media platforms?

YouTube is the second most popular social media platform in the world. 🌏

Most popular social media platforms worldwide.
Top global social media platforms as of January 2023. Image: © Smart Home Fox

Here you can find the exact usage figures of the various social networks.

Social media platforms Monthly active users
(in millions)
Facebook 2,958
YouTube 2,514
WhatsApp 2,000
Instagram 2,000
WeChat 1,309
TikTok 1,051
Facebook Messenger 931
Douyin 715
Telegram 700
Snapchat 635

Top countries with the most YouTube viewers as of January 2023

Let's look at the countries with the most YouTube viewers in January 2023.

India was the frontrunner, with around 467 million YouTube users.

It was closely followed by the United States, with a remarkable 246 million viewers using the platform.

Brazil came in third with 142 million users.

The United Kingdom was the twelfth largest country in terms of YouTube viewers.

Here is a list of countries with the most YouTube users in January 2023.

Leading countries with the most YouTube viewers as of January 2023.
Leading countries by YouTube viewership in January 2023. Image: © Smart Home Fox

For a more in-depth look, you can see the detailed figures below:

Country Number of Viewers (in millions)
India 467
United States 246
Brazil 142
Indonesia 139
Mexico 81.8
Japan 78.4
Pakistan 71.7
Germany 70.9
Vietnam 63
Tur21key 57.9
Philippines 57.7
United Kingdom 57.1
France 52.1
South Korea 46
Egypt 45.9
Italy 43.9
Thailand 43.9
Spain 40.7
Bangladesh 34.4
Canada 33.1

Interestingly, this social media platform is not accessible in six countries. 🗺️

Here is a list of countries where YouTube is currently blocked:

  • China (except Hong Kong and Macau)
  • Eritrea
  • Iran
  • North Korea
  • Turkmenistan
  • South Sudan

Usage of YouTube in selected countries and regions (As of April 2023)

If you look at the data from April 2023, it becomes clear that YouTube's reach is evident in different countries and regions.

The United Arab Emirates tops the list, with almost 98% of the population using YouTube. 🇦🇪

This is closely followed by the Netherlands and Norway, which came in second and third, respectively.

Globally, YouTube's accessibility stretched to around 36% of the world's population as of April 2023.

Let's take a detailed look at YouTube usage around the world.

Country Percentage of users
United Arab Emirates 98.5%
Netherlands 92.6%
Norway 91.9%
Great Britain 91.9%
South Korea 91.6%
Hong Kong 91.3%
Israel 91%
Saudi Arabia 90.8%
Canada 90.6%
Sweden 90.1%
Spain 90.1%
Denmark 90.1%
Germany 89.9%
France 88.8%
New Zealand 88.6%
Ireland 88.5%
Switzerland 88.4%
Belgium 87.6%
Taiwan 87.4%
Australia 87%
Austria 86.8%
Singapore 85.8%
Chile 85.3%
Czech Republic 83.5%
Malaysia 79.6%
United States 78.3%
Italy 78.3%
Argentina 77.6%
Greece 76.2%
Portugal 75.5%
Turkey 73.9%
Romania 72.9%
Brazil 72.9%
Poland 71.4%
Mexico 71.1%
Japan 70.8%
Vietnam 68.8%
Morocco 68.3%
Colombia 64.2%
Thailand 63.3%
Philippines 61.4%
South Africa 56%
Indonesia 55%
Egypt 50.6%
India 36.2%
Ghana 32.7%
Kenya 25.4%
Nigeria 25.2%

Statistics for YouTube Shorts

In August 2020, after TikTok was banned in India, YouTube introduced a feature for short videos called YouTube Shorts.

After a global launch in June 2021, this feature recorded an incredible 1.5 billion monthly logged-in users by June 2022.

According to Statista, YouTube Shorts was viewed more than 30 billion times a day by users worldwide in the same month.

Youtube shorts daily views worldwide.
In just 8 months, YouTube Shorts daily viewership rose by 66.67%. Image: © Smart Home Fox

You can see more details about these numbers below:

Year Number of daily views (in billions)
June 2021 30
50

The company has worked hard to promote YouTube Shorts since its launch. 🚀

It even automatically directs users to Shorts when they open the YouTube app.

The social network has also launched the YouTube Shorts Fund to encourage more YouTubers to participate.

The short video "Diver cracks Egg at 45 ft Deep", uploaded by travel blogger Shangerdanger, was the most viewed on YouTube in 2022.

Device-based usage of YouTube

In 2005, YouTube viewers could only watch content on PCs and laptops.

But times have changed significantly since then.

Nowadays, with the popularity of smartphones and smart TVs, people use YouTube in different ways. 📱

Let's now look at how many views (in billions) YouTube.com had worldwide from June to November 2022, broken down by the type of device used.

Device-based Youtube usage worldwide.
More people prefer watching YouTube on mobile devices over desktops. Image: © Smart Home Fox

For a more in-depth look, we'll provide a detailed division of these figures.

Month Desktop users
(in billions)
Mobile users
(in billions)
June, 2022 10.1 36.78
July,2022 10.47 50.43
August, 2022 6.93 59.71
September, 2022 11.21 57.88
October, 2022 11.23 65.6
November, 2022 8.4 71.66

How long does an average session on YouTube last?

On average, a YouTube user spent around 1777 seconds on each visit in March 2021, exactly 29 minutes and 37 seconds. 🕰️

This is a small increase of about three per cent compared to last year.

While there was a small decrease in engagement between July and September 2020, the overall average time spent by users per visit remained pretty much the same.

You can see these trends in the data we've included.

Average YouTube session duration.
Since January 2020, the average YouTube session length has grown by 4.72%. Image: © Smart Home Fox

Here's a detailed breakdown of the data.

Month Duration of each session per user
(in seconds)
January, 2020 1,697
February, 2020 1,692
March, 2020 1,733
April, 2020 1,847
May, 2020 1,856
June, 2020 1,708
July, 2020 1,529
August, 2020 1,507
September, 2020 1,491
October, 2020 1,712
November, 2020 1,754
December, 2020 1,776
January, 2021 1,781
February, 2021 1,767
March, 2021 1,777

Focusing on the UK, it's notable that 88% of internet users watch YouTube at least once a week.

And almost half of them (46%) watch YouTube every day. 🤓

The average Brit spends about 25.4 minutes watching YouTube videos every day (as per November 2022 data).

Well-known video streaming services in the UK in 2022

In 2022, Netflix and YouTube emerged as the most popular video-on-demand platforms in the UK.

Their brand awareness is incredibly high: 96% for Netflix and 95% for YouTube.

Disney isn't far behind and is known by 93% of people.

The other streaming services have similar recognition levels.

Want to know more about where these platforms stand? Check out the 2022 ranking of the most popular video-on-demand providers in the UK.

Popular video streaming services in the UK.
Top video streaming platforms in the UK for 2022. Image: © Smart Home Fox

The table below provides a closer look at these stats.

Streaming Service Platforms Viewer percentage
Netflix 96%
Youtube 95%
Disney+ 93%
Amazon Prime Video 93%
Now TV 87%
Google Play Store 87%
iTunes 85%
Apple TV+ 85%
Sky Go 82%
BritBox 78%
Discovery+ 74%
PlayStation Store 70%
Microsoft Store 69%
HayU 54%
Rakuten TV 52%
DAZN 32%
Mubi 24%

Most subscribed YouTubers globally (as of July 2023)

Here's the list of YouTubers with the most subscribers as of July 2023.

YouTube channel Number of subscribers
(in millions)
T-Series 247
MrBeast 173
CoComelon 163
SETIndia 160
Kids Diana Show 113
PewDiePie 111
Like Nastya 106
Vlad and Niki 99.7
Zee Music Company 97.7
WWE 96.5

At the top of the list was T-Series, an Indian company known for its music and film content. 🎼

Founded in 1983, the channel, known for its music videos and movie trailers, now has 247 million subscribers.

Close behind is Mr Beast, known for his philanthropy and challenges.

Cocomelon, known for children's programmes, followed in third place.

Most subscribed YouTube channels in the UK (As of July 2023)

Ed Sheeran's YouTube channel is the most popular in the UK as of July 2023, with 53.6 million subscribers. 👨🏼‍🦰

He is followed by the band One Direction, who have 31.3 million subscribers on their channel.

Here is a list of the top 10 YouTube channels with the most subscribers in the UK.

YouTube channel Number of subscribers
(in millions)
Ed Sheeran 53.6
SSSniperWolf 34
No Copyright Sounds 33.4
Mr Bean 32.1
Dream 31.8
Peppa Pig 31.7
One Direction 31.3
Adele 30.3
DanTDM 27.6
Coldplay 25.3

Most-watched YouTube videos globally (As of February 2023)

Pinkfong, a Korean educational brand, released a video titled "Baby Shark Dance" on 17 June 2016. 🇰🇷

The catchy tune captured children's hearts and broke records: It was the first YouTube video to reach 10 billion views in January 2021.

So far, "Baby Shark Dance" has been viewed 13 billion times on YouTube. 🦈

Here is a graph showing the most viewed videos on YouTube.

Most watched YouTube videos globally.
Top globally viewed YouTube videos. Image: © Smart Home Fox

Let's examine these numbers more closely.

YouTube videos Number of views
(in billions)
Baby Shark Dance 13
Despacito 8.2
Johny Johny Yes Papa 6.7
Bath Song 6.3
Shape of You 6
See You Again 5.9
Phonics Song with Two Words 5.4
Wheels on the Bus 5.4
Uptown Funk 4.9
Learning Colors - Colorful Eggs on a Farm 4.9

YouTube revenue

In November 2006, Google bought YouTube with shares for US $1.65 billion.

At the time, many people thought spending so much money was a bad idea.💰

But now YouTube takes in more than three times that amount every three months with advertising.

In the first six months of 2021, YouTube took in US $13.007 billion from advertising, 65.69% more than the previous year.

And in 2020, YouTube advertising generated US $19.7 billion.

But that's not all. YouTube also earns money with subscriptions like YouTube Premium and music services. 🎶

Around 30 million people subscribe to these services.

Alphabet, the company that owns YouTube, doesn't tell us exactly how much money they make from the subscriptions.

But if everyone paid US $9.99 a month, that would come to another US $3.6 billion.

Here's a closer look at the numbers:

Year Revenue (in billions)
2018 US $11.1
2019 US $15.1
2020 US $19.7
2021 US $28.8
2022 US $29.2

YouTube's revenues have risen steadily by more than 30% over the last four years.

In 2021, the company generated approximately $28.8 billion, an increase of 46% over the previous year's results in 2020. 📈

How much do YouTubers make per view?

It is not easy to find out how much YouTubers earn for each view. 💵

It depends on various factors, such as the country of origin of the viewers, where the advertising comes from and how engaged the viewers are.

However, we can make some educated guesses.

The monthly money a YouTuber makes depends on how many videos they post and how many people watch them.

There are two main ways that advertising on YouTube is paid for:

  • CPM (cost per mille) ads are paid for every 1000 views
  • CPC (cost per click) ads are paid when someone clicks on the ad.

Normally, a YouTuber earns about 18 cents per view, which means they get $18 per 1000 views.

On average, a professional YouTuber earns about US $4,600 monthly from his videos. 🤑

Despite these findings, there is no clear and simple answer to how much a YouTuber earns per view.

Highest-earning YouTubers in the world

In 2022, the YouTuber who made the most money was Mr Beast, also known as Jimmy Donaldson. He earned US $54 million that year.

He is known for his funny and unique videos, which often include challenges. 📹

He was followed by Vladislav and Nikita Vashketov, who run the channel Vlad and Niki, and a young YouTuber called Ryan Kaji, who has a channel called Ryan's World.

Highest earning YouTubers worldwide.
Leading YouTube earners globally in 2022. Image: © Smart Home Fox

Here's a detailed look at the numbers:

YouTuber Revenue (in millions)
Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) US $54
Vladislav and Nikita Vashketov
(Vlad and Niki)
US $43
Ryan Kaji (Ryan's World) US $38
Markiplier US $37
Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal
(Good Mythical Morning)
US $35
Dude Perfect US $34
Preston Arsement (PrestonPlayz) US $33
Nastya Radzinskaya (Like Nastya) US $32
Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) US $31
David Dobrik US $30

Top 10 Highest-Earning YouTubers in the UK for 2022

YouTube has many popular creators from the UK. In 2022, some of them earned a lot of money thanks to their videos.

Topping the list is Daniel Middleton, an iconic figure in the gaming world, best known by his channel name DanTDM.

With a whopping 27.6 million followers eagerly awaiting his content, he achieved an impressive net worth of around £27,500,550 last year.

Not far behind in the success story is KSI.

With his engaging content, he's garnered a dedicated following of 24 million subscribers and boasts a net worth of roughly £21,214,710.

Let's explore other English YouTubers who have achieved significant success in the industry and are reaping substantial earnings from YouTube.

(photo)

Let's delve deeper into the numbers.

YouTuber Net worth
Daniel Middleton £27,500,550
KSI £21,214,710
Marcus Butler £11,707,377
Caspar Lee £9,900,198
Joe Sugg £6,285,840
Tom Cassell £5,500,110
Louise Pentland £5,500,110
Conor Maynard £4,714,380
Zoe Sugg £3,535,785
Alfie Deyes £2,985,774

Final thoughts on YouTube statistics - Our conclusion

YouTube is one of the best-known and most influential platforms on the internet. 🛜

Millions of people worldwide use YouTube to watch, share or even create their own videos.

The platform offers a wide range of content covering different interests, from entertainment to educational material and advertising.

YouTubers have taken advantage of the platform's reach, gaining large audiences and earning substantial revenue from their videos. 💸

So YouTube isn't only a place for entertainment or learning something new and where people can show their creative side and even build a business.

Frequently asked questions

  • When was YouTube founded?


    YouTube is a popular video-sharing website founded on 14 February 2005. 🗓️

    It was created by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim, who used to work for the American company PayPal. 

    The first video on YouTube was a short 19-second clip called "Me at the zoo."

    In this video, Jawed Karim, one of the creators of YouTube, is seen at the San Diego Zoo. It was uploaded on 23 April 2005.

    Just one year later, in 2006, Google decided to buy YouTube. They paid US $1.65 billion for it.

  • What are the different age groups that use YouTube?


    Most YouTube users fall within the age range of 14 to 49 years old.

  • How much does a YouTuber earn per view?


    How much a YouTuber earns per view is difficult to determine, as various factors influence it.

    These factors include the country where the viewers are located, the type of advertising and how engaged the viewers are with the content. 🗺️

    According to a report by Small Business Trends, a YouTuber earns about US $0.18 per view, US $18 per 1000 views.

    A YouTuber's monthly income can vary greatly and depends mainly on the videos they publish and the total number of views they accumulate.

    On average, professional YouTubers earn around US $4,600 per month with their videos.

  • How much does YouTube Music Premium cost?


    The cost of YouTube Music Premium varies depending on the subscription plan.

    In the UK, the standard price for YouTube Music Premium is £10.99 per month. 💷

    If you want to add more members to your subscription, you can opt for the family subscription, which includes up to five people and costs £16.99 per month.

    For students who want to take advantage of YouTube Music Premium, there is a monthly special rate of £5.49.

Aeman

Aeman

After finishing my Masters in Journalism, I found a new interest in copywriting. That’s when I figured how smart home gadgets can make life easier. Now, I love to explore new tech for SmartHomeFox and share what I find with our readers. When I’m not working with gadgets, you’ll find me capturing fleeting moments in the mountains or experimenting with new recipes that may or may not be edible.

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