Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated
155 YouTube Statistics for 2026
YouTube earned $40.367 billion from advertising worldwide in 2025 and $11.207 billion in the third quarter of 2026 alone. 84% of US adults and 92% of US teens use it, it took 15.8% of all TV viewing in the US in August 2026, and it averaged 462.3 million signed-in accounts a month in the EU in the first half of 2026.
This page gathers the latest YouTube figures in one place: how many people use it, in the EU, the US, Sweden and Australia, on TV screens, for news, for Shorts and podcasts, and what it earns, pays out and removes. Every number links to the company filing, regulator report, researcher or survey that published it, with the date.
YouTube does not publish a global user count. Its own pages speak of billions of logged-in users, Alphabet reports revenue but not users, EU figures count signed-in accounts that Google says are not de-duplicated, and surveys report the share of a population that says it uses YouTube. Each figure here says what it measures, and figures on different bases are not added together or compared.
Headline figures
- 84% of US adults say they use YouTube, the most used platform in the US, ahead of Facebook at 70%. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
- 92% of US teens aged 13-17 used YouTube in 2025. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- YouTube averaged 462.3 million signed-in accounts a month in the EU from January to June 2026, a count Google says is not de-duplicated. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
- YouTube took 15.8% of all TV viewing in the US in August 2026, a record for the platform in Nielsen's The Gauge. (Nielsen (The Gauge, August 2026), Oct 2026)
- YouTube Shorts averages over 200 billion daily views worldwide, YouTube says. (YouTube (press page), 2026)
- Over 20 million videos are uploaded to YouTube each day on average, YouTube says. (YouTube (press page), 2026)
- More than 1 billion people a month watched podcast content on YouTube as of January 2025, YouTube says. (YouTube (podcast announcement), Feb 2025)
- YouTube's advertising revenue was $40.367 billion worldwide in 2025, not counting subscriptions. (Alphabet (2025 Form 10-K), Feb 2026)
- YouTube's advertising revenue was $11.207 billion worldwide in the third quarter of 2026. (Alphabet (Q3 2026 results), Oct 2026)
- YouTube Music and Premium passed 150 million subscribers worldwide by October 2026, a count that includes free trials. (Alphabet (Q3 2026 results), Oct 2026)
- YouTube says it paid over $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies worldwide in the four years to 2025. (YouTube (Made on YouTube 2025), Sep 2025)
- YouTube's creative ecosystem added over $60 billion to US GDP in 2025 and supported more than 540,000 full-time equivalent jobs, in a study by Oxford Economics commissioned by YouTube. (YouTube (US Impact Report 2025), Jul 2026)
- YouTube removed 11,159,676 videos worldwide for breaking its Community Guidelines from April to June 2026. (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
- 77% of Swedish internet users aged 8 and over used YouTube in the past year, more than any other platform. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
How many people use YouTube?
Nobody outside Google knows exactly. YouTube says only that it has billions of monthly logged-in users, so the best guides are surveys of internet users, measured app time and YouTube's own claims for single events and genres.
- YouTube describes its audience as "billions of monthly logged-in users" and has localised versions in over 100 countries across 80 languages; it gives no exact user count. (YouTube (press page), 2026)
- Over 2 billion logged-in viewers watch music videos on YouTube each month, YouTube said in October 2025. (YouTube (music payout post 2025), Oct 2025)
- Over 1.7 billion unique viewers watched videos related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup on YouTube, Alphabet's chief executive said. (Alphabet (Q2 2026 results), Jul 2026)
- Internet users aged 16 and over spend an average of 19 hours 18 minutes a week on social media and video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, 42 minutes more than a year earlier, on GWI survey data. (Kepios (Digital 2027), Oct 2026)
- YouTube's mobile app users spent 1 hour 28 minutes a day in it on average in August 2026, behind TikTok (1 hour 55 minutes) and Instagram (1 hour 40 minutes), on Similarweb app data. (Kepios (Digital 2027, Similarweb data), Oct 2026)
YouTube's audience statements are company claims and the 1.7 billion covers one event. The weekly time comes from GWI's self-reported survey and mixes social networks with video platforms; the daily app time is measured Similarweb data for mobile apps only. The two are not compared.
How many people use YouTube in the EU?
Hundreds of millions of accounts, but not a count of people. Under the EU's Digital Services Act, Google reports YouTube's average monthly signed-in accounts and signed-out sessions every six months. Signed-in accounts rose in every report from 2022 to the first half of 2025, then fell in the first half of 2026.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| H2 2022 | 401.7m |
| H1 2023 | 416.6m |
| H2 2023 | 425.2m |
| H1 2024 | 433.8m |
| H2 2024 | 459.2m |
| H1 2025 | 480.7m |
| H2 2025 | 479.4m |
| H1 2026 | 462.3m |
- YouTube averaged 479.4 million signed-in accounts a month in the EU from July to December 2025. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2025), 2026)
- It averaged 480.7 million from January to June 2025, the highest in Google's reports so far. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2025), 2025)
- It averaged 459.2 million from July to December 2024. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2024), 2025)
- It averaged 433.8 million from January to June 2024. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2024), 2024)
- It averaged 425.2 million from July to December 2023. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2023), 2024)
- It averaged 416.6 million from January to June 2023. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2023), 2023)
- Google's first report, for July to December 2022, gave 401.7 million signed-in accounts a month. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2022), 2023)
- YouTube also averaged more than 500 million signed-out sessions a month in the EU from January to June 2026. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
- By country, YouTube averaged 94.8 million signed-in accounts a month in Germany, 77.9 million in France, 55.9 million in Italy, 54.0 million in Spain, 43.0 million in the Netherlands and 37.7 million in Poland in the first half of 2026. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
- Smaller markets included Romania with 16.9 million signed-in accounts, Belgium 12.0 million, Sweden 11.3 million, Portugal 11.1 million, Austria 10.3 million, Czechia 10.2 million and Ireland 6.0 million. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
- Signed-out sessions averaged 251.4 million a month in Germany, 175.7 million in France and 145.6 million in Spain. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
- In the same report, Google Search averaged 368.9 million signed-in accounts a month in the EU, fewer than YouTube. (Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2026), Aug 2026)
Google counts distinct signed-in accounts and, separately, signed-out sessions. It says neither is de-duplicated: the same person may be counted many times, the counts overstate the number of unique users in the EU, and adding the two would overstate it further. That is why Germany's signed-in accounts exceed its population. These are EU-only figures and are not compared with surveys or worldwide claims. Google gives no reason for the fall in 2026.
How many American adults use YouTube?
More than eight in ten, and almost every adult under 30. YouTube has been the most used platform in the US for years, though fewer than half of adults visit it every day, and men are far more likely than women to do so.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Ages 18-29 | 95% |
| Ages 30-49 | 91% |
| Ages 50-64 | 85% |
| Ages 65+ | 65% |
- YouTube use among US adults rose from 73% in 2018 and 2019 to 81% in 2021, 83% in 2023 and 85% in 2024. (Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet), Oct 2026)
- 48% of US adults visit YouTube every day, against 52% for Facebook. (Pew Research Center (2025 social media use report), Nov 2025)
- 66% of US adults aged 18-29 use YouTube daily, against 54% of those aged 30-49, 45% of those aged 50-64 and 27% of those 65 and over. (Pew Research Center (2025 social media use report), Nov 2025)
- 58% of US men use YouTube daily, against 39% of women. (Pew Research Center (2025 social media use report), Nov 2025)
Pew's fact sheet measures the share of US adults who say they ever use YouTube, from its National Public Opinion Reference Survey (5,511 adults, January to June 2026). Pew changed survey methods in 2023 and 2024, so earlier years are not strictly comparable. Daily use comes from a separate Pew panel survey in 2025 and is not combined with the ever-use figures.
How many American teenagers use YouTube?
Nine in ten, and YouTube is the platform US teens use most every day. TikTok has more teens on it almost constantly, but YouTube's reach is wider and the same for younger and older teens.
- YouTube was used by 95% of US teens in 2022, 93% in 2023 and 90% in 2024. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- Roughly three-quarters of US teens use YouTube every day, and 43% use it several times a day. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- The share of US teens on YouTube almost constantly was 19% in 2022, 16% in 2023, 15% in 2024 and 17% in 2025, against 21% for TikTok in 2025. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- 20% of US teen boys are on YouTube almost constantly, against 13% of girls. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- 94% of US teen boys use YouTube, against 89% of girls. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- YouTube is the only platform that US teens aged 13-14 and 15-17 are equally likely to use; for Instagram the figures are 44% and three-quarters. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- 35% of Black US teens say they are on YouTube almost constantly, against 23% of Hispanic and 8% of White teens. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- 36% of US teens use at least one of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook almost constantly. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
- After YouTube, 68% of US teens use TikTok, 63% Instagram and 55% Snapchat. (Pew Research Center (teens 2025), Dec 2025)
Pew surveyed 1,458 US teens aged 13-17 living with a parent, from September to October 2025. Daily and almost-constant shares are of all teens, with non-users counted as not using. YouTube was not asked about in Pew's 2014-15 survey.
How many people use YouTube in Sweden and Australia?
Most adults in both countries, but YouTube is not always first. It leads in Sweden by past-year use, though its reach there has edged down since 2021. In Australia Facebook reaches more adults than YouTube.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 81% |
| 2022 | 79% |
| 2023 | 79% |
| 2024 | 79% |
| 2025 | 78% |
| 2026 | 77% |
- YouTube's past-year reach among Swedish internet users aged 8 and over fell from 81% in 2021 to 79% in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and 78% in 2025. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
- 32% of Swedish internet users use YouTube daily, behind Instagram (46%) and Facebook (45%). (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
- 83% of Swedish men use YouTube against 72% of women, and 44% of men use it daily against 18% of women. (Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026), Sep 2026)
- 71% of Australian adults used YouTube in the six months to June 2025, behind Facebook at 78%. (ACMA (How we communicate), Feb 2026)
- 56% of Australian adults used YouTube in the previous seven days, behind Facebook (68%) and Facebook Messenger (60%). (ACMA (How we communicate), Feb 2026)
- After Australia's under-16 social media rules took effect, 48.5% of surveyed parents whose child aged 8-15 had a YouTube account said the child still had one, a lower share than for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok. (eSafety Commissioner, Mar 2026)
Each survey measures something different. Internetstiftelsen asks Swedish internet users aged 8 and over about past-year and daily use (fieldwork January 2026). ACMA reports Australian adults' use in the past six months and the past seven days. eSafety's figure comes from a survey of 898 parents and carers. None is compared with Pew's US shares.
How many people use YouTube for news?
About a third of people across the markets the Reuters Institute surveys, and more than half in India. YouTube is the second biggest platform for news after Facebook across the markets the Reuters Institute surveys, and it is the top one in India and Japan.
- Across 48 markets, 34% of people used YouTube for news in the past week and 69% for any purpose, against 43% for news on Facebook. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)
- In the US, 33% of people used YouTube for news in the past week and 73% for any purpose. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026, full report), Jun 2026)
- In the UK, 16% used YouTube for news in the past week and 61% for any purpose; WhatsApp reached more people for any purpose (82%). (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026, full report), Jun 2026)
- YouTube was the top network for news in India (58%) and Japan (30%), and second in Germany (22%) behind WhatsApp. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026, full report), Jun 2026)
- In a separate US measure, 34% of US adults say they regularly get news on YouTube, against 40% on Facebook. (Pew Research Center (social media and news fact sheet), Oct 2026)
The Reuters Institute surveys online samples in each market; the 48-market figure is an average of those samples, and India's sample represents younger English speakers, not the whole population. Platform questions were asked again in March 2026 after a problem in the first fieldwork, so year-on-year changes need caution. Pew's "regularly get news" question is a different measure from Reuters' past-week use, so the two are not compared.
How much TV time goes to YouTube?
More than to any other streaming service or media company in the US. Nielsen's The Gauge shows YouTube's share of US TV viewing rising from under 8% in early 2023 to a new record in August 2026, and YouTube says TV is now the main screen for watching it in the US.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Feb 2023 | 7.9% |
| Jun 2024 | 9.9% |
| Jul 2024 | 10.4% |
| Dec 2024 | 11.1% |
| Feb 2025 | 11.6% |
| Jun 2025 | 12.8% |
| Jul 2025 | 13.4% |
| May 2026 | 13.8% |
| Jul 2026 | 14.2% |
| Aug 2026 | 15.8% |
- YouTube became the first streaming platform to pass 10% of US TV viewing, with 10.4% in July 2024, up from 9.9% in June; streaming took 41.4%. (Nielsen (The Gauge, July 2024), Aug 2024)
- YouTube viewing rose 7% in December 2024 to a then-record 11.1% of US TV viewing, while streaming reached 43.4%. (Nielsen (The Gauge, December 2024), Jan 2025)
- YouTube took 11.6% of US TV viewing in February 2025, up from 7.9% in February 2023, and time spent watching it on TV sets rose 53% over the two years. (Nielsen (The Gauge, February 2025), Mar 2025)
- Of YouTube's US TV viewing in February 2025, 21.0% came from adults aged 18-34, 20.4% from ages 50-64, 19.4% from ages 35-49, 16.9% from children aged 2-11, 15.4% from adults 65 and over and 6.9% from ages 12-17; viewing by adults 65 and over rose 96% in two years. (Nielsen (Media Distributor Gauge, February 2025), Mar 2025)
- YouTube reached 12.8% of US TV viewing in June 2025, its largest share at the time. (Nielsen (Media Distributor Gauge, June 2025), Jul 2025)
- YouTube took 13.4% of US TV viewing in July 2025, 4.0 share points ahead of second-placed Disney at 9.4% among media companies. (Nielsen (Media Distributor Gauge, July 2025), Aug 2025)
- YouTube reached 13.8% of US TV viewing in May 2026, and streaming took 48.6%. (Nielsen (The Gauge, May 2026), Jul 2026)
- YouTube reached 14.2% in July 2026 and widened its lead among media companies to 5.0 share points; streaming took 49.0% of US TV viewing. (Nielsen (The Gauge, July 2026), Sep 2026)
- In August 2026 YouTube's monthly TV viewing rose 6% while total TV use fell; Netflix was third with 7.7% and streaming took 49.6%. (Nielsen (The Gauge, August 2026), Oct 2026)
- YouTube says it has been No. 1 in US streaming watch time for nearly three years, citing Nielsen as of January 2026. (YouTube (press page), 2026)
- TV has passed mobile as the main device for watching YouTube in the US, YouTube's chief executive said in February 2025, without giving a share. (YouTube (CEO letter 2025), Feb 2025)
- Viewers globally watch more than 1 billion hours of YouTube on their TVs every day on average, YouTube's chief executive wrote in February 2024. (YouTube (CEO letter 2024), Feb 2024)
Nielsen's The Gauge measures each platform's share of all time spent on US TV sets, not reach, and covers the main YouTube app only (YouTube TV is counted with the networks it carries). Nielsen made a one-time change to its method from the September 2026 period, so later months are not comparable with this chart. YouTube's TV claims are its own: its 2024 CEO letter gave the 1 billion daily hours on TVs as a global figure, while a March 2025 letter from its music chief gave the same figure for TV sets in the US.
How popular are YouTube Shorts and podcasts?
Both have grown fast on YouTube's own figures. Daily Shorts views and podcast viewing on TV screens have both risen sharply since 2024, and YouTube is adding AI tools for creators and viewers.
- Shorts averaged over 70 billion daily views in February 2024, and the number of channels uploading Shorts grew 50% in a year. (YouTube (CEO letter 2024), Feb 2024)
- Viewers watched over 400 million hours of podcasts a month on living-room devices in 2024, and YouTube says it is the most frequently used service for podcasts in the US. (YouTube (podcast announcement), Feb 2025)
- Viewers watched over 700 million hours of podcasts on living-room devices in October 2025. (YouTube (podcasts in the living room 2025), Dec 2025)
- More than 1 million channels used YouTube's AI creation tools each day on average in December 2025, and more than 20 million users used its Ask tool that month. (YouTube (CEO letter 2026), Jan 2026)
- YouTube averaged more than 6 million daily viewers who watched at least 10 minutes of auto-dubbed content in December 2025. (YouTube (CEO letter 2026), Jan 2026)
- On videos with dubbed audio, more than 40% of total watch time came from viewers choosing to listen in a dubbed language, YouTube said in February 2025. (YouTube (CEO letter 2025), Feb 2025)
All figures in this section are YouTube's own claims from its blog and executives' letters, worldwide unless stated. Podcast hours count time watched on living-room devices, not viewers. YouTube does not name the research behind its US podcast ranking in the post cited.
How much does YouTube make from advertising each year?
More than $40 billion in 2025, against about $8 billion in 2017. Alphabet has published YouTube's ad revenue since early 2020, and it has risen every year, though it barely grew in 2022, when exchange rates held it back.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $8.2bn |
| 2018 | $11.2bn |
| 2019 | $15.1bn |
| 2020 | $19.8bn |
| 2021 | $28.8bn |
| 2022 | $29.2bn |
| 2023 | $31.5bn |
| 2024 | $36.1bn |
| 2025 | $40.4bn |
- Alphabet first published YouTube's ad revenue in February 2020: $8.150 billion in 2017, $11.155 billion in 2018 and $15.149 billion in 2019, when Google's total ad revenue was $134.811 billion. (Alphabet (Q4 2019 results), Feb 2020)
- YouTube's ad revenue was $19.772 billion in 2020 and $28.845 billion in 2021, a rise of $9.1 billion driven by direct response and brand advertising. (Alphabet (2021 Form 10-K), Feb 2022)
- It rose by just $398 million to $29.243 billion in 2022; Alphabet said exchange rates held back growth. (Alphabet (2022 Form 10-K), Feb 2023)
- It rose $2.3 billion to $31.510 billion in 2023, driven by brand and direct response ads. (Alphabet (2023 Form 10-K), Jan 2024)
- It rose $4.6 billion to $36.147 billion in 2024. (Alphabet (2024 Form 10-K), Feb 2025)
- It rose $4.2 billion in 2025, led for the year by direct response ads, followed by brand ads. (Alphabet (2025 Form 10-K), Feb 2026)
- Google's total advertising revenue, including YouTube, was $294.691 billion in 2025, up from $264.590 billion in 2024. (Alphabet (2025 Form 10-K), Feb 2026)
These are Alphabet's reported "YouTube ads" figures, worldwide and in US dollars. They exclude YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket, whose revenue Alphabet reports inside a wider subscriptions line together with other Google products.
How much does YouTube make from advertising each quarter?
Over $11 billion in its best quarters, but the path has not been smooth. Ad revenue jumped in 2021, fell below the year before for three quarters in a row from late 2022, then grew again, with the fourth quarter usually the largest.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | $6.69bn |
| Q2 2023 | $7.67bn |
| Q3 2023 | $7.95bn |
| Q4 2023 | $9.20bn |
| Q1 2024 | $8.09bn |
| Q2 2024 | $8.66bn |
| Q3 2024 | $8.92bn |
| Q4 2024 | $10.47bn |
| Q1 2025 | $8.93bn |
| Q2 2025 | $9.80bn |
| Q3 2025 | $10.26bn |
| Q4 2025 | $11.38bn |
| Q1 2026 | $9.88bn |
| Q2 2026 | $11.06bn |
| Q3 2026 | $11.21bn |
- YouTube's ad revenue was $4.717 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, up from $3.605 billion a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q4 2019 results), Feb 2020)
- It was $4.038 billion in the first quarter of 2020, up from $3.025 billion a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q1 2020 results), Apr 2020)
- It was $3.812 billion in the second quarter of 2020, when Covid-19 lockdowns began, against $3.603 billion a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q2 2020 results), Jul 2020)
- It was $5.037 billion in the third quarter of 2020, up from $3.804 billion a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q3 2020 results), Oct 2020)
- It was $6.885 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, up from the same quarter of 2019. (Alphabet (Q4 2020 results), Feb 2021)
- It was $6.005 billion in the first quarter of 2021, up from a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q1 2021 results), Apr 2021)
- It was $7.002 billion in the second quarter of 2021, up from the lockdown quarter a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q2 2021 results), Jul 2021)
- It was $7.205 billion in the third quarter of 2021. (Alphabet (Q3 2021 results), Oct 2021)
- It was $8.633 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. (Alphabet (Q4 2021 results), Feb 2022)
- It was $6.869 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up from a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q1 2022 results), Apr 2022)
- It was $7.340 billion in the second quarter of 2022, up from a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q2 2022 results), Jul 2022)
- It fell to $7.071 billion in the third quarter of 2022, below a year earlier: the first year-on-year fall in the quarterly figures Alphabet has published. (Alphabet (Q3 2022 results), Oct 2022)
- It fell to $7.963 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, below a year earlier. (Alphabet (Q4 2022 results), Feb 2023)
- It was $6.693 billion in the first quarter of 2023, a third quarter in a row below the year before. (Alphabet (Q1 2023 results), Apr 2023)
- It returned to growth at $7.665 billion in the second quarter of 2023. (Alphabet (Q2 2023 results), Jul 2023)
- It was $7.952 billion in the third quarter of 2023. (Alphabet (Q3 2023 results), Oct 2023)
- It was $9.200 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023. (Alphabet (Q4 2023 results), Jan 2024)
- It was $8.090 billion in the first quarter of 2024. (Alphabet (Q1 2024 results), Apr 2024)
- It was $8.663 billion in the second quarter of 2024. (Alphabet (Q2 2024 results), Jul 2024)
- It was $8.921 billion in the third quarter of 2024. (Alphabet (Q3 2024 results), Oct 2024)
- It passed $10 billion for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2024, at $10.473 billion; Alphabet said Google Cloud and YouTube together ended 2024 at an annual revenue run rate of $110 billion, a combined figure for both businesses. (Alphabet (Q4 2024 results), Feb 2025)
- It was $8.927 billion in the first quarter of 2025. (Alphabet (Q1 2025 results), Apr 2025)
- It was $9.796 billion in the second quarter of 2025, a double-digit rise, Alphabet said. (Alphabet (Q2 2025 results), Jul 2025)
- It was $10.261 billion in the third quarter of 2025. (Alphabet (Q3 2025 results), Oct 2025)
- It grew 9% to $11.383 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, Alphabet's highest quarter for YouTube ads so far. (Alphabet (Q4 2025 results), Feb 2026)
- It grew 11% to $9.883 billion in the first quarter of 2026. (Alphabet (Q1 2026 results), Apr 2026)
- It grew 13% to $11.055 billion in the second quarter of 2026. (Alphabet (Q2 2026 results), Jul 2026)
Quarterly figures are Alphabet's "YouTube ads" line, worldwide, ads only. Growth rates are given only where Alphabet states them. The $110 billion run rate covers Google Cloud and YouTube together, including subscriptions, and is not a YouTube figure.
How many people pay for YouTube?
YouTube Music and Premium subscribers have grown at every milestone YouTube has announced since 2021, but every count YouTube gives includes free trials. Alphabet does not publish YouTube's subscription revenue, and its company-wide subscription totals cover all Google services.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 2021 | 50m |
| Sep 2022 | 80m |
| Feb 2024 | 100m |
| Mar 2025 | 125m |
| Oct 2026 | 150m |
- YouTube passed 50 million Music and Premium subscribers, including trials, in September 2021. (YouTube (50 million subscribers post), Sep 2021)
- It passed 80 million Music and Premium subscribers, including trials, in September 2022, 30 million more than a year before. (YouTube (80 million subscribers post), Nov 2022)
- It passed 100 million Music and Premium subscribers, including trials, by February 2024, and YouTube TV, its US live TV service, had more than 8 million subscribers. (YouTube (CEO letter 2024), Feb 2024)
- It reached 125 million Music and Premium subscribers, including trials, in March 2025. (YouTube (125 million subscribers letter), Mar 2025)
- YouTube's ads and subscription revenue together passed $50 billion over four quarters for the first time in the year to September 2024, Alphabet's chief executive said. (Alphabet (Q3 2024 results), Oct 2024)
- Alphabet said its subscription revenue growth in 2024 came largely from more paid subscribers for YouTube services, followed by Google One. (Alphabet (2024 Form 10-K), Feb 2025)
- Alphabet's Google subscriptions, platforms and devices line, which holds YouTube TV, Music, Premium and NFL Sunday Ticket together with Google One and other products, earned $48.030 billion in 2025, up from $40.340 billion; it is not a YouTube-only figure. (Alphabet (2025 Form 10-K), Feb 2026)
- Alphabet names YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium and NFL Sunday Ticket as YouTube's subscription products and reports their revenue inside that wider line, not separately. (Alphabet (Q3 2026 results), Oct 2026)
- Alphabet counted 350 million paid subscriptions across all Google services in April 2026, with YouTube and Google One the main drivers; it did not say how many were YouTube's. (Alphabet (Q1 2026 results), Apr 2026)
Every YouTube Music and Premium figure includes people on free trials. Alphabet's company-wide counts of paid subscriptions span Google One and other Google services, so they are not YouTube subscriber numbers. Alphabet does not publish YouTube TV or NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber counts in its filings; the YouTube TV figure is YouTube's own claim.
How much does YouTube pay creators and the music industry?
Billions of dollars a year, on YouTube's own figures. Its yearly payouts to the music industry have risen with each figure it has announced since 2021, and millions of channels now earn money from the platform.
- YouTube said in February 2024 that it had paid over $70 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the previous three years. (YouTube (CEO letter 2024), Feb 2024)
- More than 3 million channels were in the YouTube Partner Program, which shares ad and other revenue with creators, in February 2024. (YouTube (CEO letter 2024), Feb 2024)
- YouTube paid $4 billion to the music industry in the 12 months to September 2021. (YouTube (50 million subscribers post), Sep 2021)
- YouTube announced a $6 billion revenue contribution to the music industry in September 2022, 30% of it from user-generated content. (YouTube (80 million subscribers post), Nov 2022)
- YouTube paid out over $8 billion to the music industry in the 12 months from July 2024 to June 2025. (YouTube (music payout post 2025), Oct 2025)
- Over 500,000 creators were in YouTube Shopping by January 2026. (YouTube (CEO letter 2026), Jan 2026)
- In the EU, the number of channels earning five figures or more grew by over 15% in 2024. (YouTube (Europe Impact Report 2025), Oct 2025)
- All 50 US states have at least 10 YouTube channels with over 1 million monthly views. (YouTube (US Impact Report 2025), Jul 2026)
- Over 90% of watch time on content from Australian channels comes from viewers outside Australia. (YouTube (Australia impact page), 2026)
All payout and channel figures are YouTube's own unaudited claims, worldwide unless stated; Alphabet's filings do not break them out. Payouts include money shared with media companies, record labels and music publishers as well as individual creators, and cover both ads and subscriptions. The periods differ, so the figures are not added together.
How much does YouTube add to national economies?
Billions in each large market, on studies YouTube pays for. Oxford Economics estimates the GDP and jobs supported by YouTube's creative ecosystem country by country, and YouTube publishes the results. They are modelled estimates, not official statistics.
- In 2024, YouTube's US ecosystem added $55 billion to GDP and supported more than 490,000 full-time jobs, YouTube's chief executive said. (YouTube (CEO letter 2026), Jan 2026)
- 77% of US creators with a media career say it started on YouTube, in Oxford Economics' survey for YouTube. (YouTube (US Impact Report 2025), Jul 2026)
- YouTube's creative ecosystem added over €7 billion to EU GDP in 2024 and supported more than 200,000 full-time equivalent jobs. (YouTube (Europe Impact Report 2025), Oct 2025)
- It added over £2.8 billion to UK GDP in 2025 and supported more than 60,000 full-time equivalent jobs. (YouTube (UK Impact Report 2025), Aug 2026)
- 75% of UK creators with a media and entertainment career say it started on YouTube. (YouTube (UK Impact Report 2025), Aug 2026)
- It added over AU$1.1 billion to Australia's GDP in 2025 and supported more than 18,000 full-time equivalent jobs. (YouTube (Australia impact page), 2026)
- It added over 16,000 crore rupees to India's GDP in 2024 and supported more than 930,000 full-time equivalent jobs. (Google India (YouTube Impact Summit 2025), Nov 2025)
- It added more than 3.5 trillion won to South Korea's GDP in 2025 and supported more than 85,000 full-time equivalent jobs. (YouTube (Korea Impact Report 2025), Jun 2026)
- It added over 510 billion yen to Japan's GDP in 2025, and in Japan too it supported more than 85,000 full-time equivalent jobs. (YouTube (Japan Impact Report 2025), Oct 2026)
Every figure here comes from research by Oxford Economics commissioned by YouTube, using YouTube's internal data, and published by YouTube or Google. The creative ecosystem includes creators, their staff and suppliers. GDP figures are in each country's currency and for different years, so they are not compared or converted. A Canadian figure is left out because the page does not state its currency.
How much content does YouTube remove?
Millions of videos and channels and more than a billion comments every quarter, nearly all found by automated systems. Child safety is the main reason for video removals, and spam for channel and comment removals.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 7.16m |
| 2019 | 8.99m |
| 2020 | 11.40m |
| 2021 | 6.28m |
| 2022 | 4.50m |
| 2023 | 7.37m |
| 2024 | 8.50m |
| 2025 | 11.41m |
| 2026 | 11.16m |
- Of the videos YouTube removed from April to June 2026, child safety accounted for 68.2% (7,614,835), harassment and cyberbullying 11.3%, violent or graphic content 5.2%, harmful or dangerous content 5.1% and nudity or sexual content 4.9%. (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
- Promotion of violence and violent extremism accounted for 2.9% of video removals, hateful or abusive content 1.4%, misinformation 0.2% (23,014 videos) and spam, deceptive practices and scams 0.2%. (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
- 11,005,420 of the removed videos were first flagged by automated systems, 123,855 by users, 30,400 by organisations in YouTube's Priority Flagger programme and 1 by a government agency. (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
- A further 86,686,063 videos were removed because their whole channel was terminated. (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
- YouTube removed 2,732,395 channels from April to June 2026, 84.5% of them (2,310,181) for spam, deceptive practices and scams, 5.0% for nudity or sexual content and 5.0% for child safety. (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
- YouTube removed 1,551,576,962 comments in the same quarter; 99.9% were caught by automated flagging, and 84.4% were spam, 7.4% child safety and 5.9% harassment and cyberbullying. (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
- By uploader location, the most videos were removed in India (3,441,973), the United States (1,240,512), Indonesia (915,923), Brazil (841,803) and Bangladesh (316,775). (Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals, Q2 2026), 2026)
These are YouTube's own enforcement counts, worldwide, for Community Guidelines violations only; removals for legal reasons are reported separately. Video counts exclude videos removed with a terminated channel. YouTube's child safety category covers content that endangers minors' wellbeing, which is wider than abuse material. Country is the uploader's IP address at upload, so the ranking follows upload volume and is not a measure of how much harmful content each country produces.
When did Google buy YouTube, and how big was it then?
Google bought YouTube in 2006, the year after it was founded. At the time YouTube had a small fraction of today's uploads and views.
- Google agreed to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock on 9 October 2006; YouTube was founded in February 2005 and stayed based in San Bruno, California. (Google (YouTube acquisition release, 2006), Oct 2006)
- YouTube then delivered more than 100 million video views a day, with 65,000 new videos uploaded daily. (Google (YouTube acquisition release, 2006), Oct 2006)
Figures come from Google's announcement of the deal, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. They are not compared with today's figures, which YouTube measures differently.
Glossary
- DSA
- The EU Digital Services Act, which requires large platforms to publish user numbers and moderation data for the EU.
- Signed-in accounts
- Google's DSA count of distinct YouTube accounts signed in each month in the EU, averaged over six months. Not de-duplicated, so not unique people.
- Signed-out sessions
- Google's DSA count of YouTube sessions by people not signed in. Not de-duplicated and not added to signed-in accounts.
- The Gauge
- Nielsen's monthly report of each platform's share of all time spent watching TV sets in the US.
- Media Distributor Gauge
- Nielsen's version of The Gauge that groups each media company's networks and apps together.
- Shorts
- YouTube's short vertical video format.
- YouTube Partner Program
- The programme through which YouTube shares ad and other revenue with eligible channels.
- FTE
- Full-time equivalent: jobs expressed as a number of full-time posts.
- GWI
- A market research company whose survey of internet users aged 16 and over Kepios reports.
- Priority Flagger
- A YouTube programme for government agencies and organisations that report content in bulk.
- Community Guidelines
- YouTube's own rules on what may be posted; removals under them are reported in Google's Transparency Report.
Methodology and sources
Figures come from Alphabet's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Google's EU Digital Services Act reports and Transparency Report, Nielsen, survey researchers (Pew Research Center, the Reuters Institute, Internetstiftelsen, ACMA and Australia's eSafety Commissioner), Kepios, and YouTube's own blog posts and executives' letters. Each figure links to the body that published it, with the date. YouTube's usage, payout and subscriber claims are labelled as company claims, Music and Premium counts include trials, and Alphabet's company-wide subscription totals are never treated as YouTube subscribers. Economic impact figures are YouTube-commissioned estimates by Oxford Economics. EU signed-in accounts, Nielsen TV share, survey shares and app data measure different things and are never added together or compared. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.
- ACMA (How we communicate) · Feb 2026
- Alphabet (2021 Form 10-K) · Feb 2022
- Alphabet (2022 Form 10-K) · Feb 2023
- Alphabet (2023 Form 10-K) · Jan 2024
- Alphabet (2024 Form 10-K) · Feb 2025
- Alphabet (2025 Form 10-K) · Feb 2026
- Alphabet (Q1 2020 results) · Apr 2020
- Alphabet (Q1 2021 results) · Apr 2021
- Alphabet (Q1 2022 results) · Apr 2022
- Alphabet (Q1 2023 results) · Apr 2023
- Alphabet (Q1 2024 results) · Apr 2024
- Alphabet (Q1 2025 results) · Apr 2025
- Alphabet (Q1 2026 results) · Apr 2026
- Alphabet (Q2 2020 results) · Jul 2020
- Alphabet (Q2 2021 results) · Jul 2021
- Alphabet (Q2 2022 results) · Jul 2022
- Alphabet (Q2 2023 results) · Jul 2023
- Alphabet (Q2 2024 results) · Jul 2024
- Alphabet (Q2 2025 results) · Jul 2025
- Alphabet (Q2 2026 results) · Jul 2026
- Alphabet (Q3 2020 results) · Oct 2020
- Alphabet (Q3 2021 results) · Oct 2021
- Alphabet (Q3 2022 results) · Oct 2022
- Alphabet (Q3 2023 results) · Oct 2023
- Alphabet (Q3 2024 results) · Oct 2024
- Alphabet (Q3 2025 results) · Oct 2025
- Alphabet (Q3 2026 results) · Oct 2026
- Alphabet (Q4 2019 results) · Feb 2020
- Alphabet (Q4 2020 results) · Feb 2021
- Alphabet (Q4 2021 results) · Feb 2022
- Alphabet (Q4 2022 results) · Feb 2023
- Alphabet (Q4 2023 results) · Jan 2024
- Alphabet (Q4 2024 results) · Feb 2025
- Alphabet (Q4 2025 results) · Feb 2026
- eSafety Commissioner · Mar 2026
- Google (YouTube acquisition release, 2006) · Oct 2006
- Google India (YouTube Impact Summit 2025) · Nov 2025
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2023) · 2023
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2024) · 2024
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2025) · 2025
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H1 2026) · Aug 2026
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2022) · 2023
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2023) · 2024
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2024) · 2025
- Google Ireland (EU DSA report, H2 2025) · 2026
- Google Transparency Report (YouTube removals data) · 2026
- Internetstiftelsen (Svenskarna och internet 2026) · Sep 2026
- Kepios (Digital 2027) · Oct 2026
- Nielsen (Media Distributor Gauge, February 2025) · Mar 2025
- Nielsen (Media Distributor Gauge, July 2025) · Aug 2025
- Nielsen (Media Distributor Gauge, June 2025) · Jul 2025
- Nielsen (The Gauge, August 2026) · Oct 2026
- Nielsen (The Gauge, December 2024) · Jan 2025
- Nielsen (The Gauge, July 2024) · Aug 2024
- Nielsen (The Gauge, July 2026) · Sep 2026
- Nielsen (The Gauge, May 2026) · Jul 2026
- Pew Research Center (2025 social media use report) · Nov 2025
- Pew Research Center (social media and news fact sheet) · Oct 2026
- Pew Research Center (social media fact sheet) · Oct 2026
- Pew Research Center (teens 2025) · Dec 2025
- Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026, full report) · Jun 2026
- Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026) · Jun 2026
- YouTube (125 million subscribers letter) · Mar 2025
- YouTube (50 million subscribers post) · Sep 2021
- YouTube (80 million subscribers post) · Nov 2022
- YouTube (Australia impact page) · 2026
- YouTube (CEO letter 2024) · Feb 2024
- YouTube (CEO letter 2025) · Feb 2025
- YouTube (CEO letter 2026) · Jan 2026
- YouTube (Europe Impact Report 2025) · Oct 2025
- YouTube (Japan Impact Report 2025) · Oct 2026
- YouTube (Korea Impact Report 2025) · Jun 2026
- YouTube (Made on YouTube 2025) · Sep 2025
- YouTube (music payout post 2025) · Oct 2025
- YouTube (podcast announcement) · Feb 2025
- YouTube (podcasts in the living room 2025) · Dec 2025
- YouTube (press page) · 2026
- YouTube (UK Impact Report 2025) · Aug 2026
- YouTube (US Impact Report 2025) · Jul 2026