40 Interesting YouTube Stats You Need to Know This Year

As the perfect mixture of hosting service, social network, and content streaming site, YouTube is simply second to none when it comes to the sheer volume of video content consumption worldwide. The latest YouTube stats back it up —but what else do they have to say?

I know YouTube might initially seem like scary uncharted territory because of that perfect storm of diverse content, staggeringly massive user base, and markedly low entry requirements, and the hard data regarding the platform might look even more daunting. But astute marketers and agile businesses need to capitalize on this to its full extent if they want their online video marketing strategies to bear fruit.

Now, with that in mind, I took the opportunity to put together a selection of 40 key YouTube stats I feel everyone should have on their radar to be able to make the most of the platform’s potential. Let me show you what they mean for you.

1. How Many People Use YouTube?

Sporting the astonishing number of 2.7 billion active users, YouTube has taken advantage of its variety of content to position itself as a go-to destination for people looking for videos on virtually any topic online.

2. Is YouTube the World’s Most Visited Website?

One of the most critical insights about this platform I regularly see overlooked by most businesses and marketers looking to tap into its potential is the fact that YouTube is, first and foremost, a massive search engine. In fact, YouTube stats reveal it’s the second most prominent search engine out there after Google and the third most popular app after Google and Facebook.

3. How Much Video Is Consumed on YouTube Per Day?

Another huge advantage YouTube offers for anyone looking to make use of its marketing potential resides in how willing its user base is to watch content. It’s been found that over 1 billion hours of video are watched every day by YouTube viewers. After some simple math, we could reach the conclusion that each user watches an average of approximately 0.37 hours of video a day. 

This simple but powerful YouTube stat clearly depicts how the platform provides ample opportunities for your audience to come across your content and actually watch it, ultimately expanding your reach.

4. How Many YouTube Channels Are There?

With so many users actively engaging with the platform, you might wonder how many of them have their own channel they upload content to. Well, as of today, YouTube has more than 113.9 million active channels.

5. How Many YouTube Channels Can I Have?

While managing an active channel and creating content for it regularly is a lot of work, you can have up to 100 channels under a single Google Account.

6. How Many YouTube Users Access the Site on Mobile?

Another easily dismissed but equally critical piece of information is that, in December 2023, YouTube recorded 98 billion visits on mobile. Do you know how many visits were on desktop devices? A bit over 8 billion visits —quite the gap between these two YouTube stats, don’t you think?

Through smart UX-oriented design and a robust mobile app, the company is aware of and on top of the mobile-only crowd and makes sure to cater to their needs to keep the numbers growing.

7. How Many People Watch YouTube Shorts?

In 2021, YouTube launched YouTube Shorts, a feature on the platform focused solely on vertical videos that are 60 seconds long, or less. This might sound familiar, as there are plenty of social channels that offer short-form content as well, but unlike them, YouTube Shorts doesn’t take the pieces down after 24 hours. 

Maybe it’s because of that that YouTube Shorts is now averaging over 70 billion daily views. And to encourage creators to keep making that kind of content, the platform is launching creators’ funds and developing new tools to make it easier for users to leverage Shorts.

8. What Demographic Uses YouTube the Most?

While Generation Z isn’t quite there yet to be the next focus demographic of most marketing campaigns, we’re getting there. After all, they’re aged between 12 and 27 now. So, while we’re waiting for them to become a bit older, the ability to engage Millennials continues to be a fundamental piece in almost every marketing effort. In this regard, YouTube doesn’t disappoint.

About 54.3% of YouTube users worldwide are aged between 18 and 34 years old. So, if your target audience falls within that demographic, you can’t afford to ignore the potential all these YouTube stats suggest.

9. In Which Countries Is YouTube Used?

While YouTube is used in most countries around the world, India currently boasts the largest YouTube audience, with 462 million users. In second place, we find the United States, with 239 million YouTube viewers, followed by Brazil with 144 million users. It’s also worth mentioning that there are some countries in which the video platform is banned, such as China, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Turkmenistan.

10. Are TrueView Ads Worth It?

A few weeks ago, thinkwithGoogle.com released a report packed with YouTube stats related to ads. It seems that TrueView Ads, YouTube’s ad format, are 10x more likely to drive engagement on the advertiser’s channel. This means that viewers are more likely to visit or subscribe to a brand channel, watch more of their content, or share the brand’s video after watching an ad.

In the same report, it was revealed that the secret to effective TrueView ads is to tailor them specifically for YouTube, rather than repurposing TV ads. Another interesting fact is that the most popular ads were all more than a minute long! Time to start working on a solid video strategy for YouTube focused on creative, visually attractive content to drive user engagement, don’t you think?

11. What Is the Most Popular Type of Video on YouTube?

As you’ve probably guessed, music videos and entertainment content are the most popular types of video on YouTube, making up 49.7% and 35.3% of internet users worldwide reporting watching one of these videos online each week

However, YouTube is also one of the prime places people go to understand and figure out things online. That’s why How-To videos and educational pieces have also become a prominent type of digital content on the platform, with 25.7% and 25.6% of users watching these types of content weekly.

These YouTube stats are a clear indication of a demand that most businesses with solid video marketing plans should be capitalizing on.

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12. What Is the Most Popular Free Video Service?

Pipe Sandler recently released the results of their regular survey of teens’ preferences, and it revealed that in spite of many available alternatives to consume video content online, YouTube is still the preferred free online video provider across all generations. 

You were probably expecting TikTok to be at the top of the list, huh? Well, YouTube stats suggest that 82% of Gen Z adults, 78% of Millenials, 70% of Gen X, and 52% of Baby Boomers claim to use YouTube daily. However, only 67% of Gen Z adults, 41% of Millenials, 20% of Gen X, and 7% of Baby Boomers look to TikTok for video content. Nothing short of impressive, in my opinion.

13. Is AI Popular on YouTube?

Lately, it seems we can’t stop hearing about new developments regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI). While YouTube is no stranger to it either, it might come as a surprise that 52% of people surveyed in the latest YouTube Culture & Trends Report say they watched a VTuber (that is, a virtual YouTuber or influencer) at least once in the past 12 months.

This not only means that AI is expanding creativity and opening up new possibilities for both content creators and brands, but also that viewers are quite open to this innovation and even already watching videos made with AI.

14. Can YouTube Boost SEO?

As you might’ve already noticed, video content has been particularly prevalent in search results these past few years. To put it in real numbers, 62% of search results on Google include videos, and 80% of those are hosted on YouTube. So, it’s not just people who love video content, but algorithms as well!

But for those algorithms to find your content, you need to optimize it for search queries by incorporating relevant keywords, tags, and relevant information into your video titles and descriptions. You can also drive organic traffic to your website by including links to your site or a specific landing page within the video description and annotations.

In essence, these YouTube stats strongly suggest that uploading quality pieces onto the platform not only boosts search visibility but also drives sustainable growth in online presence.

15. Do People Buy Things They See on YouTube?

YouTube’s potential is so vast, that businesses who still haven’t tapped into it are definitely missing out on a huge opportunity. It’s a well-known fact that video content can captivate audiences and influence purchasing decisions, and that holds true for YouTube, where viewers are 2x more likely to buy something they saw in a video.

16. Do Marketers Use YouTube?

After this extensive analysis, it should come as no surprise that out of all the social media platforms available to us today, YouTube is the go-to for 88% of marketers who want to upload videos.

This YouTube stat is both good and bad news. On the bright side, it means that promotional content will have its own place in the video streaming platform. On the other hand, however, it also means that competition is only gonna become fiercer. 

But this shouldn’t be too much of a worry because if you focus on creating effective videos that your audience will relate to and find appealing, you’ll easily stand out among others. Just don’t forget to keep an eye on your YouTube analytics to determine what’s working and what could be improved.

17. How Do People Use YouTube?

HubSpot conducted a survey in which they found the following YouTube stats:

• 65% of people use YouTube for entertainment purposes;
• 13% use it to learn how to do something;
• 13% use YouTube to learn more about a hobby, interest, or industry;
• 3% of viewers go to YouTube to learn about products.

18. How Many YouTube Views Do You Need to Make Money?

Ever since YouTube started paying for views, people started believing they could become rich by uploading videos… Unfortunately, YouTube actually pays per ad view rather than video view. What’s more, you can apply for monetization once you hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past year.

19. How Much Does YouTube Pay?

While there are not official YouTube stats about it, it’s been estimated that creators can expect to receive about $0.018 a view, or, in other words, $18 per 1,000 ad views.

20. Which YouTube Channel Has the Most Subscribers?

The biggest YouTube channel in the world is currently T-Series, with 258 million subscribers, followed by MrBeast with 236 million, and Cocomelon with 171 million channel subscribers.

21. How Much Time Do People Spend on YouTube?

Another set of YouTube stats shows that users spend 46 minutes a day watching videos. In 2019, this rate was 39.7 minutes per day, but that same study has found that from that point forward, and with a small push from the COVID-19 pandemic, YouTube’s usage has been growing annually by 5.2%.

22. Will People Keep Spending Time on YouTube in the Future?

Besides counting on a large audience, the diverse content options available on YouTube keep people wanting more. A study from The Sprout Social Index indicated that 51% of users intended to spend more time on YouTube this year. That is more than half of their current audience. So, we may be seeing that average daily time grow even more!

23. Are Mobile Users More Active on YouTube?

It’s been noted that users who access YouTube with their phone visit an average of 4.63 pages per session, while desktop users have recorded only 2.84 pages per visit. This is two times more videos watched than on other options!

Following these YouTube statistics, we can easily gauge the behavior of mobile users: besides spending the most time on the app, they tend to scroll around the most, visiting as many pages and watching as many videos as possible.

24. Who Uses YouTube the Most: Men or Women?

Besides Millennials, the YouTube demographic is made up mostly of men. But just like Instagram and TikTok, their younger audiences are mostly female. From ages 13 to 24, 26% of videos are watched by women, while men make up only 22%. This shows that in the future, the platform’s demographic is probably going to change, with female users taking the lead.

25. Are YouTube Users Multi-Channel?

When watching videos, users flow freely between different types of content and mediums, taking advantage of all the platform has to offer. 59% of Gen Z agree that they use short-form video apps to discover things before watching longer versions later.

These YouTube stats teach us that to effectively leverage video content and appeal to your followers in every instance, you have to create varied content, both in short and long formats.

26. What’s the Most Popular Language on YouTube?

It makes sense to hear that for this California-based company, videos in its native language lead the top 250: 66% of the content from YouTube’s best channels is produced in English. Only 15% of the videos are in Spanish, and 7% in Portuguese. 

So no matter what language the content you produce is in, English subtitles are something you should consider adding.

27. Are Long Form Videos Popular on YouTube?

We’re in the age of shorter attention spans and bite-size content, but what this shows us is that younger audiences are willing to stay put to learn and get informed on a topic they’re interested in, love, or feel attracted to.

A new 2022 Ipsos survey of thousands of Gen Z respondents reveals that this generation likes to consume long video content, as long as it covers topics they’re attracted to.

28. How Can You Appeal to Users on YouTube?

A study conducted by Google with Omnicom Media Group revealed that video viewers want content that relates to their passions. 65% of Gen Z agree that content that’s personally relevant to them is more important than the content that lots of other people talk about

Following these YouTube stats, we can see that personalization and specialization have become crucial to attracting viewers who are looking for specific knowledge and are not only guided by popularity.

29. Are Livestreams Popular on YouTube?

Another way for users to feel more connected with creators is through live streams. 85% of YouTube users have watched at least one real-time broadcast over the past 12 months. Livestreams allow viewers to bond with other people and feel closer to them.

These YouTube stats show us that the way people consume videos is changing, and live streams and other forms of connecting with your audience in a direct way are going to become fundamental going forward.

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30. Is Gaming Content Still Popular on YouTube?

In 2020, viewers spent 100 billion hours watching gaming content on YouTube, making it the biggest year for these types of videos. But since then, the numbers have only gone down. In 2022, YouTube Gaming Live generated around 1.17 billion hours of content watched. This represents a four percent decrease from the same quarter of the previous year.  

Reasons for the drop can be attributed to Twitch, the new streaming platform that has made a large number of users migrate. But if you’re a game company, worry not: to this day, some of the most popular channels are from gamers like PewDiePie. Just try to keep an eye on how those YouTube stats evolve.

31. Are There Other Types of Videos that Perform Well on YouTube?

YouTube statistics show that this platform has more educational videos than the Library of Congress has books. (I know, crazy, right?)

Having become one of the biggest sources of information in the world, users take advantage of this platform to learn new skills, educate themselves, and find tutorials on certain tasks. In fact, 82% of users said they watch videos that help them learn how to do something at least once a month or even more often.

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32. Is YouTube Still Used for Music?

Analyzing users’ search activity, we can see that music is one of the most important types of content for audiences. 11 of the top 20 search terms in the past year related directly to music, be it song trailers, music videos, or an artist’s content. At the same time, the platform’s most-subscribed channels and most viewed videos are of the same genre.

Times may change, but YouTube stats reveal that every generation uses this platform to listen to music.

33. What Influences What People Watch on YouTube?

Algorithms shape the information billions of people consume. But in the case of YouTube, we get to put it in numbers: 70% of what people watch is determined by their AI. 

Unlike Instagram, organic reach seems to be far from dead here. By optimizing your video content with SEO tips, and staying up-to-date with algorithm changes, you can optimize your videos to reach wider audiences without having to invest in paid ads.

34. What Do Marketers Think about Marketing Videos on YouTube?

When it comes to sharing marketing videos on YouTube, 96% of professionals seem to believe under 10 minutes is the ideal length. Although placing a limit may be useful, I believe that the length of your video depends largely on the type of video you’re making and what your objectives are.

That’s what gives me the best results!

35. What Are Engagement Rates Like on YouTube?

Unlike most social platforms, where engagement rates start decreasing as the follower count grows, according to YouTube stats, the average engagement rate for influencer’s channels on this platform with over 1 million followers is 3.47%. Meanwhile, creators with only 1,000 to 5,000 followers register rates of only 1.9%.

Still, before collaboration with any influencer, measure their engagement rates, and they decide if it’s worth it or not.

36. Is It Worth It to Advertise on YouTube?

A survey hosted by Think With Google revealed that 75% of users say advertising in YouTube videos makes them more aware of new brands or products, while 70% of them say they bought a brand as a result of seeing it on a sales video.

In the online shopping journey, video has become the first stop. Before making a purchase decision, customers like to search online, watch reviews of the products, and see real-life images of the quality and how to use them.

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37. Is It Important to Add a CTA to My Videos?

Internet Marketing Ninjas discovered that using a CTA inviting viewers to subscribe can increase a channel’s subscriptions by 3,100%. In order to create an effective call to action at the end of the video, you need to specify a concrete action for your viewers, using action verbs that give the order to follow.

Also, try to reinforce these key sentences throughout the video. That way, viewers will leave with a clear understanding of the actions they need to take.

38. How Can I Improve My Advertising on YouTube?

When it comes to influencer marketing, advertisers seem to prefer content that subtly integrates the products, but viewers prefer videos that are fully dedicated to a product.

These types of dedicated promotions achieve the most watch time from users, with an average of 1,187 seconds. Meanwhile, product videos where it’s subtly integrated into the content are left in second place at just 82 seconds. 

Once again, what marketers prefer isn’t always what gives the best results, and you should try to give viewers what they want. Thankfully, keeping an eye on YouTube statistics can give us new, more effective insights.

39. How Can I Improve Ad Recall?

Advertisers who used video experiments to play around saw their ad recall increase by 60%. That’s why Google encourages publicists to conceive of every campaign as an experiment: see what is working and what isn’t, what you learn, what new questions arise, and what needs to be optimized.

Experimental mindsets won’t hinder you and will pay off in the long run. 

40. How Can I Boost My View Rates?

In comparison to landscape assets, using vertical videos increases view rate by 31%. The takeaway from these YouTube statistics is that optimizing for mobile viewing and tailoring content to consumption preferences can result in noticeable improvements in results for marketers.

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Last Question: Are You Feeling a Bit Lost in the Sea of Video Marketing?

If the answer is “yes,” worry not because we can help you! We’ve been working hard in this industry for over a decade, which has allowed us to assemble a professional team with the skills and passion to produce fully customized, effective explainer videos that can bring your message to life.

And you know what our secret is? 😉 A solid compromise for genuinely listening to our client’s needs and goals. 

With your marketing objectives guiding our process, we can tailor each and every piece we work on so they fit your brand and your tone perfectly and resonate with your audience. No matter what niche you’re in, our unique videos can help you tackle even the most complex or abstract concepts to convey your message effectively.

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At Yum Yum Videos, our passion and dedication drive our work. We love what we do, and we make sure our videos show it 😃. What’s more, we know how to take advantage of the latest YouTube stats to come up with successful content for you.

So, if you’re ready to get that awesome video for your company, send us a message, and let’s talk about it!

Wrapping Up

A new year is ahead of us, and as new trends develop and video content continues to soar as the leading type of content online, being aware of these YouTube stats becomes ever more essential to stay effective out there in the realm of digital marketing.

Far from just stating facts, all these stats reveal clear trends in user preferences, which provide clear indicators for marketers and businesses alike on where to take their strategies. But if you’re feeling a bit lost, you can always enlist the help of a video marketing agency to develop the most adequate content for your specific kind of audience.