YouTube, owned by Google, has unveiled a new report by independent consulting firm, Oxford Economics. The new publication reports that YouTube’s burgeoning creator ecosystem has developed significant economic contribution, amounting to Rs 6,800 crore and supporting 6,83,900 full-time equivalent jobs in India in 2020.
According to the report, this economic impact spills across to societal and cultural benefits to the Indian population as well. The YouTube creative ecosystem’s total economic impact refers to the sum of its direct, indirect, induced, and catalytic impacts.
The calculation is based on direct impact (creator earnings), indirect impact (business stimulated in the Indian supply chain), and induced impact (employment costs in the creator economy). Lastly, there’s the catalytic impact, that is, revenue earned from other sources stimulated by a YouTube presence. “These ‘off-platform’ revenues create a on the economy, stimulating additional indirect and induced impacts through supply chain activity and wage expenditure,” said the report.
New horizons
Increasingly, Indian creators are finding opportunities on YouTube. The number of channels in India with over 1 lakh subscribers are now at 40,000, marking a growth of over 45%, year on year. Approximately 4,000 channels have over 1 million subscribers, an increase of over 50%, year over year.
YouTube has also proved to be a valuable tool for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) across India. A staggering 90% of SMBs with a YouTube channel agreed that YouTube played a role in helping them grow their customer base. About 93% of businesses with a YouTube channel agreed that the platform aided in finding customers for their business.
As for the creative entrepreneurs themselves, about 72% agree that the revenue they receive from ads placed on their YouTube content is an important source of income for them. Plus, 80% of creative entrepreneurs believe that YouTube has a positive impact on their professional goals. And 63% of creative entrepreneurs agreed that being on YouTube has brought them opportunities away from the platform.
Ajay Vidyasagar, Regional Director, APAC, YouTube Partnerships said in a statement, “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.”
He added, “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. We remain laser-focussed on our goal of delivering an open, inclusive and responsible platform for hundreds of millions of Indians who turn to YouTube to develop new skills, discover their passions, hone their talents, and grow their businesses.”
Read the full report here
