Here are a few of the most interesting YouTube statistics and facts I was able to dig up including user counts. As always, be sure to check back in the future as I will be updating this post as new and updated stats become available.
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This YouTube report contains all the stats I have been able to dig up over the years including stats for: User Totals, Demographics, Activity and Video Stats, Mobile Stats, Advertising and Revenue Stats and much more.
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YouTube Facts
- Website: Official Website
- Year Founded: 2005
- Headquarters: San Bruno, CA
- Founder(s): Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen
- Current Chief Executive: Susan Wojcicki
- Parent Company: Google/Alphabet
- App Download (iOS)
- App Download (Android)
What is YouTube?
YouTube is a true American success story. It began as the brainchild of Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim: three PayPal employees that wanted to create a platform where users could post and share video clips. As a startup, YouTube attracted users and funding fairly quickly and was snatched up by the almighty Google roughly a year and a half after it was launched for $1.65 billion.
When a video social network has over a billion users that spend amazing amounts of time on it daily, there is no shortage of aspects of and facts about YouTube that can be measured and reported. I have been collecting YouTube stats and facts for about 10 years now in this curated collection.
YouTube History
- 2005 – YouTube launched
- 2006 – Google purchases YouTube for $1.65 billion
- 2010 – YouTube began streaming cricket matches
- 2011 – YouTube gets a major site redesign
- 2015 – YouTube Kids launched
- 2015 – YouTube Premium launched (as YouTube Red)
- 2017 – YouTube gets a major site redesign
YouTube User Count
How many people use YouTube?
2 billion logged-in monthly YouTube users
Last updated 2/26/21
How many people watch YouTube in the US?
Last updated 1/27/17
Number of countries YouTube has users in:
Last updated 11/29/17
YouTube Revenue Totals
YouTube revenue from ads (annual):
- FY 2019: $15.1 billion
- FY 2018: $11.15 billion
- FY 2017: $8.15 billion
YouTube Q1 2020 revenue:
Additional YouTube Statistics
How many YouTube videos are uploaded every minute?
Last updated February 2020
Number of people in the US that watch YouTube and YouTube TV on their TV screen monthly:
Last updated 5/19/20
How many videos on YouTube are captioned:
Last updated 2/16/17
Percentage of the Earth’s population that use YouTube monthly:
Last updated 5/7/18
Amount of content YouTube users watch annually:
Last updated 10/9/16
Percentage of YouTube traffic from mobile:
Estimated YouTube valuation:
Last updated 3/5/19
Number of times the YouTube app has been installed from the Play Store:
Last updated 12/3/18
YouTube overall reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.
Average amount of YouTube video content watched daily:
Last updated 5/12/18
Average time spent on YouTube per mobile session:
Last updated 5/12/18
How many videos are uploaded on YouTube every day?
Last updated 11/5/17
Number of YouTube channels with more than 1 million subscribers:
Last updated 2/3/16
Percentage of US Internet users, aged 13-17 (teens) that use YouTube:
Last updated 5/31/18
Number of subscribers of YouTube Music and Google Play Music combined:
Last updated 6/27/19
Percentage of US enterprise companies that use YouTube:
Last updated 7/13/16
Type of YouTube content most preferred by Millennials:
How many YouTube video views that come from mobile devices:
Last updated 10/3/16
Number of signals YouTube users have created over time:
Last updated 6/20/17
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
What is the most-viewed YouTube video ever?
Last updated 2/25/19
How many people in India watch YouTube?
Last updated 8/28/18
Percentage of US millennials that visit YouTube daily:
Last updated 1/6/17
YouTube makes up over half of people’s time watching online video on television.
Last updated 9/1/16
Percentage of US teen boys (aged 13-17) that use YouTube daily:
Last updated May 2017
Percentage of US teen girls (aged 13-17) that use YouTube daily:
Last updated May 2017
Number of weekly active YouTube Kids viewers:
Last updated 2/13/17
Number of revenue-earning YouTube users in the US:
Last updated 2/1/18
Number of markets that YouTube TV is available in:
Last updated 3/12/18
Number of YouTube TV subscribers:
Last updated 2/3/20
Percentage of US streaming service versifier YouTube reaches:
Last updated 4/10/17
Percentage of US YouTube viewers that don’t watch Netflix:
Last updated 4/10/17
Number of people that watch gaming videos and streams on YouTube each day:
Last updated 9/18/18
Percentage of YouTube gamers that watch YouTube videos to learn how to get better at a game:
Last updated 6/2017
Number of people that watched live-streamed video game content on YouTube in Q2 2019:
YouTube’s share of the video game live streaming market:
Last updated 7/12/19
Number of gaming how-to videos on YouTube:
Last updated 6/2017
Number of countries YouTube Music is available in:
Last updated 7/18/19
Top 5 top-earning YouTube stars (based on income):
- Ryan Kaji |Â Ryan ToysReview ($26 million)
- Dude Perfect ($20 million)
- Anastasia Radinskaya ($18 million)
- Rhett and Link ($17.5 million)
- Jeffree Star ($17 million)
Last updated 12/18/19 (source)
Average amount of YouTube content that is watched on TV screens daily:
Last updated 5/3/19
Amount of gaming content viewed on YouTube in 2018:
Video with the most YouTube views in its first 24 hours:
Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” (43.2 million views)
Last updated 8/29/17
Number of downloads of YouTube Go:
Last updated 12/19/17
Number of countries YouTube Go is available in:
Last updated 3/1/18
Number of installs of the YouTube for Android TV app:
Last updated 2/4/18
60% of Americans aged 35-54 visit YouTube for music-related content at least once a week.
Last updated June 2018
29% of Americans aged 55+ visit YouTube for music-related content at least once a week.
Last updated June 2018
Oldest video to get 1 billion YouTube views:
YouTube makes up over half of people’s time watching online video on television.
Last updated 9/1/16
Top 5 most subscribed-to YouTube channels:
- T-Series
- YouTube Movies
- Music
- PewDiePie
- Gaming
Last updated 5/27/20 (source)
Most popular YouTube channel (based on views):
Last updated 7/27/20
Number of views in the YouTube Kids app to date:
Last updated 2/13/17
10 Most-viewed YouTube videos of all time (as of 6/18/19):
- Despacito (Luis Fonsi)
- Shape of You (Ed Sheeran)
- See You Again (Wiz Khalifa)
- Recipe for Disaster (Marsha and the Bear)
- Uptown Funk (Mark Ronson)
- Gangnam Style (Psy)
- Sorry (Justin Bieber)
- Sugar (Maroon 5)
- Baby Shark Dance (Pinkfong)
- Roar (Katy Perry)
Percentage of YouTube’s daily views that come from outside the U.S.:
Last updated 5/12/18
Number of YouTube channels with more than 100,000 subscribers:
Last updated February 2020
Fastest music video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube:
“Hello” (by Adele)
Last updated 1/21/16
Number of music videos that have reached 1 billion views on YouTube:
Last updated 1/21/16
Number of downloads for the YouTube Kids app:
Last updated 7/8/18
Number of video views for YouTube Kids in its first year:
Number of YouTube channels with at least 250,000 subscribers:
Last updated 1/7/19
Top 10 YouTube title keywords that get the most views:
- Fortnite
- ASMR
- Slime
- Rainbow
- Prank
- Worst
- NFL
- Makeup
- Moment
- Wrong
(source) Last updated 1/7/19
Number of YouTube Music / YouTube Premium paid subscribers:
Last updated 2/3/20
Most-watched YouTube creator of 2019:
Top 5 most disliked videos on YouTube (as of 8/11/19):
- YouTube Rewind 2018 (YouTube)
- Baby (Justin Bieber)
- It’s Everyday Bro (Jake Paul)
- Can this video get 1 million dislikes? (PewDiePie)
- Despacito (Luis Fonsi)
Percentage of YouTube users that watch it to help make a purchase decision:
Last updated 6/16/20
The top two reasons viewers watch YouTube are:
Top YouTube Searches (US users) for 2020:
- pewdiepie
- asmr
- music
- markiplier
- old town road
- pewdiepie vs t series
- billie eilish
- fortnite
- david dobrik
- jacksepticeye
(as of July 2020)
The full YouTube report is available in a few of our annual industry report. Some of the data in industry reports include:
- User Totals
- Demographics
- Activity and Video Stats
- Mobile Stats
- Advertising and Revenue Stats
- Etc.- all in one place
I try to go through each and every stat regularly and update as much as possible, but we all know that some stats are easier to track down than others. As always, every stat is linked to its original source and has the source date listed.
To get your copy of the YouTube report, click on the button below to purchase it.
Report 1: Google Product Report (Includes: Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google, Google Play, Home, and YouTube).
Report 3: Video Streaming Service Report (Includes: Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Roku, Hulu).