25 Mind-Blowing YouTube Facts, Figures and Statistics

There’s no doubt that YouTube is the most popular video platform on the planet.

In 2019 alone, YouTube recorded an estimated 1.68 billion users and a market reach of about 90 percent. Since its launch in 2005, YouTube has grown into the most prominent online video platform globally.

After years of refining and constant growth, they have cemented their spot as the top video sharing platform.

There hasn’t been a website in the past decade that gives us opportunities to make money and become overnight internet-sensations just by uploading videos.

YouTube is now not only an entertainment center but a platform for marketers and business owners to grow and thrive.

To learn more about the top facts, figures, and statistics for YouTube in 2020, read on.

1. The very first YouTube video was uploaded on 23 April 2005

The first-ever YouTube video was uploaded on April 23, 2005 – exactly 15 years ago today.

Jawed Karim, the co-founder of YouTube, posted an 18-second video titled ‘Me at the zoo,’ which has since garnered over 120 million video views. To this day, it is Karim’s only video on his channel.

2. The total number of people who use YouTube – 2,000,000,000+

That’s how many users YouTube has – meaning over one-third of the internet uses the video-sharing platform.

This stat points out the number of people who logged into the website at least once per month. The only other social network that has more users than YouTube is Facebook.

3. YouTube is localized in over 100 countries and can be accessed in 80 different languages

With over 80 different language options in over 100 other countries, YouTube’s global presence is massive.

The platform now reaches 95 percent of the internet population, with the United States accounting for the most views and subscribers globally. To make a comparison, Facebook is only available globally to 43 different languages.

4. One billion hours watched daily

That is the number of hours viewed on YouTube every single day – over a billion. Breaking down the numbers, if every single person on earth watched a video, then on average, each person would watch 8.4 minutes per day.

More and more people rely on video content to learn new things, and YouTube is the most reliable and active video sharing platform.

5. About 81% of internet users aged 15-25-year-old use YouTube

YouTube is a popular platform for the younger generation, as 81 % of internet users aged 15-25 are using the platform daily.

Interestingly, YouTube is also popular across other age groups, with a 71% usage of internet users in the US aged 26-35, and 67% among ages 36-45. It seems the number seems to go down as the age increases.

6. More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices

Users are spending more time on their smartphones now more than ever. That is why this stat comes as no surprise. According to YouTube, more than 70 percent of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices.

There’s no denying the power of mobile devices in this generation; if you own a business, you simply can’t ignore the potential mobile offers to your marketing efforts. Staying up to date with the latest trends allows you to optimize your YouTube content for mobile as well.

7. 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute worldwide

The amount of content uploaded on YouTube has increased dramatically as the appetite for online video has grown. Five hundred hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute worldwide.

That equates to about 30,000 hours of video uploaded every hour and 720,000 hours of video uploaded every day to YouTube. While these numbers are staggering, it’s nothing close to the watch time on YouTube.

With the amount of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, it’s no wonder that YouTUbe is growing so much year by year.

8. According to Forrester, half of US viewers under 32 will not subscribe to a pay-TV service by 2025

The stat speaks for itself – by 2025, Forrester predicts that half of US viewers under 32 will not subscribe to a pay-TV service 2025.

Viewers today are now watching as much video content on YouTube as they’re on television.

It is projected that more and more users are slowly going to switch to online video altogether, and YouTube will most likely be the top online video source.

9. The total number of hours of video watched on YouTube each day – 1 billion hours

People around the world are now watching close to 1 billion hours of YouTube video content every single day.

That’s more video content than Netflix and Facebook video content combined.

Putting those numbers into perspective, if you were to sit back and watch a billion hours of YouTube, it would take you over 100,000 years to complete! 

10. 6 out of 10 people prefer online video content (i.e., YouTube) to live TV

A staggering 6 out of 10 people prefer online video content to live TV.

By 2025, half of all the viewers under the age of 32 will not subscribe to a pay-TV service.

It seems people are watching less television but don’t love video any less – as time goes by, TV watch time will go down, and online video watch time will go up.

11. YouTube videos that have over a billion views – over 278 videos

There are currently 278 videos on YouTube with over a billion views. YouTube’s billion view club is an elite group and not an easy one to enter into.

Very few videos have reached that milestone – by June 2015, only two videos had over a billion views.

In December 2012, ‘Gangnam Style’ became the first video to each a billion views, and currently ‘Baby Shark Dance’ is the most-watched video on YouTube.

12. 80% of YouTube’s views are from outside of the U.S.

With 80 percent of YouTube’s views coming from outside the US, only 20 percent of YouTube users come from the United States.

With that said, YouTube can rightfully be called a global network.

13. The average number of mobile YouTube video views per day is 1,000,000,000

The average number of mobile video views is a staggering 1 billion views. This stat comes as no surprise as users spend more time on their smartphones now more than ever.

Breaking down that figure, that’s about 41.6 million mobile video views every single hour and 695,000 video views every single minute.

14. The average mobile viewing session lasts more than 40 minutes. This is up by more than 50% year-over-year

Users are spending, on average, 40 minutes on YouTube each session.

YouTube holds the highest user engagement than other social networks, with the highest average time spent on the website. YouTube gained a 50 percent increase in average viewing time compared to last year, according to Statista.

15. Female users are 38%, and male users are 62% on YouTube

When looking at users’ gender, YouTube is more popular with men than with women – female users account for 38 percent of visitors. In comparison, male users account for 62 percent of the YouTube viewing population.

Additionally, according to the US internet population statistics, the 18-25 age range accounts for the most extensive visitor base of YouTube with 81 percent and last place being given to 56-year-olds and upwards with 58 percent visitors.

16. YouTube started generating $8 billion in revenue in 2015

Since its launch in 2005, YouTube hasn’t looked back. In as little as ten years, they began making severe bank, earning $8 billion in revenue in 2015.

During that same year, they were able to acquire $2.24 billion from the US market alone.  In 2018, YouTube revenue came to about $14 billion, and in 2019, they hit the $15 billion mark.

17. 9% of U.S small businesses use YouTube

Nine percent of small businesses use YouTube today. Not only is YouTube a tremendous video-sharing website, but it is also a powerful marketing platform businesses can leverage off of.

Over 30 million users visit YouTube every day, and the second most visited website on the internet means there are ample opportunities to acquire leads.

Whether it’s running ads or posting videos to their channels, 2 million small businesses in the US have decided to invest in YouTube marketing. 

18. Approximately 20% of the people who start your video will leave after the first 10 seconds

Approximately 20 percent of people who start your video will leave after the first 10 seconds. This is why your intro must get your audience engaged from the get-go.

It’s important to note that a view is only counted after a person watches it for 30 seconds.

Making your viewers engage your video is easy – the best way is to build curiosity at the very beginning, or you could start with an intro explaining what your viewers can expect from the video.

19. The Annual cost of running and maintaining YouTube is $6,350,000,000

A lot of resources go into running and maintaining YouTube – from storage costs to networking costs.

As per YouTube stats, YouTube is storing close to 207 TB of data every single day.

Adding up the numbers and looking at the prices for cloud storage, YouTube is spending close to 100 million on hold only. This doesn’t include other factors like staff salaries, taxes, networking, maintenance, etc.

20. Google’s annual revenue generated from YouTube is $4,000,000,000

Google makes around $4 billion in revenue from YouTube every single year.

This figure has slowly increased ever since Google acquired the video-sharing platform from its co-founders.

YouTube can generate 6 percent of Google’s ad sales revenue yearly. The $4 billion that Google earns from YouTube accounts for 6% of their yearly ad revenue.  

21. YouTube has paid out more than $3 billion to copyright holders through content ID

In Google’s latest, ‘How Google Fights Piracy’ report, they gave us a look at the numbers for YouTube’s copyright infringement busting Content ID system they introduced back in 2007.

According to Google, YouTube has paid out close to $3 billion to copyright holders through Content ID. The report they published also revealed that Google invested $100 million in Content ID’s staffing and digital infrastructure.

Content ID helps contact the copyright holder if copyrighted content is uploaded by someone who is not the rights holder, who can then choose to either do nothing and have the content pulled down.

22. Sequoia Capital invested only $11.5 million into YouTube in November 2005

Only one venture capital firm invested in YouTube in their earlier stages, Sequoia Capital, and became one of the hottest internet deals since Google went public in 2004.

Sequoia Capital is one of the most successful venture firms in Silicon Valley, and they were able to invest a total of $11.5 million on YouTube from November 2005 to April 2006.

Fast-forward years later, they are walking away with more than 43 times that amount. Its stake in YouTube has been estimated at roughly 30 percent, which would give it a value of $495 million.

23. The highest-paid Youtube partner is Ryan Kaji – Ryan Toys Reviews, with an annual income reaching $26 million for 2019

In 2007, YouTube began its partnership program to make money off ads and pay famous YouTube stars.

As of June 2019, Statista claims that the highest-earning YouTube star was Ryan Kaji (Ryan ToysReview), with earnings of approximately 26 million U.S. dollars during the measured period.

Popular video channel Dude Perfect came in a close second with $20 million in annual revenues. 

24. The youngest YouTube star Ryan ToysReviews who is nine years old made $26,000,000 in 2019

YouTube star Ryan Kaji topped the list again for the youngest YouTube star and made an astounding $26 million in 2019.

Ryan Kaji is the highest-paid YouTube star in the world, making an estimated $26 million in yearly income reviewing toys, according to Forbes. His main YouTube channel, Ryan’s World, has 26 million subscribers and billions of views.

25. The most subscribed YouTuber and channel – T Series (154+ million subscribers)

The famous Swedish YouTuber, PewDiePie, firmly held on to the title as the channel’s owner with most subscribers for 1,920 days until T-Series, a record label and film production company, came along.

The T-Series’ impressive subscriber count of 154 million users and its content is a massive collection of music videos, films, clips, and trailers from T-Series’ creative output.

Conclusion

These YouTube stats and figures prove just how impactful the video-sharing platform is in 2020. 

Not only is YouTube a  video-sharing website, but it is also a powerful marketing platform businesses and marketers can leverage off of. YouTube is powerful enough to engage users across all age groups.