Contribution of Youtube Creators to Indian GDP

Forms of electronic communication have seen an exponential rise in their growth rate. Platforms such as YouTube and other video sharing companies have gained tremendous amount of popularity in rather small periods of time. YouTube was established on February 14, 2005, and by December that year, it was already delivering over 2 million daily views, and by January 2006, that figurehad risen to 25 million. Fast forward to 2022 and this number has become approximately 5 billion. There are almost 720,000 hours of video uploaded on YouTube per day and this number is only growing. In 2021 only, YouTube generated an ad revenue of more than 28 billion dollars.

This is to show that how large is you tube’s scale of operation really is. Having said that, YouTube is extremely popular in India with around 40,000 channels with over 100,000 subscribers and about 1200 channels with 1 million or more subscribers. The growing creator ecosystem of YouTube in India has brought over 6800 crores to the GDP of India and has supported 6,83,900 full time equivalent jobs in the country in 2020. YouTube’s creative ecosystem not only helped in increasing India’s GDP, but it also contributed $20.5 billion to the US economy in 2020 and supported 394,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

This statement was issued by an independent report done by Oxford economics and released by YouTube. Adrian Cooper, CEO Oxford Economics, said, “This report is the first of its kind to unpack and quantify the economic, societal and cultural impacts of the YouTube ecosystem in India. 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.“

In addition to this report, it was also stated that YouTube provides its creators with opportunities to gain a worldwide following, push boundaries and explore numerous income sources such as becoming a brand affiliate, selling merchandise, live performances etc.

YouTube has enabled creative entrepreneurs to pursue their professional ambitions, allowing them to share their passions and ideas with a large audience whilst earning money. Over 80% of creative entrepreneurs in India stated YouTube had helped them achieve their professional goals. The number of YouTube channels generating six figures or more in income has increased by more than 60% year over year, thanks to the platform’s eight distinct ways to monetize content.

YouTube has evolved into a valuable resource for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs). Businesses have effectively expanded revenue and connected with customers by using their own channel, targeted advertisements, or simply viewing YouTube content. In fact, 92 percent of SMBs (small and midsize business) with a YouTube channel said it helps them reach new audiences all over the world.

Ajay Vidyasagar, Regional Director, APAC YouTube Partnerships said, “It is heartening to see the real impact and influence YouTube’s creative economy has unlocked in India. 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.”

YouTube also fostered a lot of new creators when the world saw the devastating pandemic. Due to the lockdown, numerous people were layed out which left them with no source of income. As an experiment, many people who were restricted to the boundaries of their homes tried out their hand at developing content and when, to their surprise, they started to get substantial views, many turned this to their full-time jobs.

Although the contribution of the platform to the Indian economy is not widely recognised, YouTube plays a vital role in helping sustain the jobs of numerous individuals, help businesses grow, enrich cultures and communities, build skills, and provide connections.