YouTube's creator ecosystem contributed Rs 6,800 crore to Indian GDP in 2020: Report

Google-owned YouTube is talking up the economic value of its creator ecosystem in India, even as it jostles with global tech giants and local internet companies to woo creators onto their platforms in the country.

The company, which is arguably the world's largest video sharing platform, said that its growing creator ecosystem contributed Rs 6,800 crore to the Indian GDP and supported an equivalent of 6,83,900 full-time jobs in the country in 2020, citing a report by consulting firm Oxford Economics that was unveiled on March 3.

"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" said Ajay Vidyasagar, Regional Director, APAC, YouTube Partnerships.

"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," he added.

While this is the first time YouTube is sharing its economic impact in India, it has previously released similar reports from Oxford Economics highlighting its economic impact in other countries.

In the United States, YouTube said it contributed $20.5 billion to the US GDP in 2020 and supported an equivalent of 394,000 full-time jobs while in the United Kingdom, it contributed about 2.38 billion euros (around $2.64 billion) in 2020 and supported 142,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

Direct & indirect creator impact

In the report, Oxford Economics said that a principal source of YouTube's economic impact is derived from the revenue the company redistributes to its creators including advertising, subscriptions and fan-funded revenue streams such as channel memberships and Super Chat along with royalty payments paid to music and media companies.

In August last year, YouTube said it paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies across the world in the past three years. The company does not provide a region-wise breakup of its revenues.

"If you think about YouTube as 100%, about 50% of what we are is really the creator economy, 25% is the media ecosystem and 25% is the music ecosystem. The entire media and the music piece is what the world is familiar with and the entire creative economy is really what flourished, thanks to platforms like YouTube," Vidyasagar said.

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Further, YouTube's economic impact also included the estimated off-platform revenues that creators earn from other sources as a result of their YouTube presence along with the indirect economic impact caused from creators spending money on goods and services to produce content for the platform. This includes video editors, graphic designers, producers, and sound and film equipment makers among others.

While Vidyasagar didn't disclose any such indicators for 2021, saying the numbers are still being consolidated, he noted that creators witnessed significant growth in 2021 on top of 2020 since "several revenue streams started kicking in" for them during the year.

Over 4,000 channels have over one million subscribers, a 50% year-on-year increase as of June 2021, while the number of YouTube channels making Rs 1 lakh or more annually was up over 60 percent year-over-year in India, the company said.