YouTube Stats: A Comprehensive Analysis of Video Consumption Trends in 2023

YouTube is not just a video social media platform anymore but also the world's second-largest search engine after Google. With over 2 billion monthly active users, YouTube has evolved into something bigger. It’s not just a solid channel for marketers or a place for creators to earn money but also a gateway to unlimited information, tutorial videos, and educational content for the public.

That’s why it’s more of a “search-engine” than a social network or a video hosting site. With that being said, you must be interested in how people use YouTube. In this article, we’ve compiled 2023 statistics of YouTube video consumption trends, demographics, the most viewed videos of all time, and much more.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Some Key YouTube Facts

Let’s get started with a quick YouTube overview.

• YouTube was founded on 14 February, 2005 (17 years ago) by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim.
• Today, it’s a subsidiary of Alphabet, acquired on October 9, 2006 for $1.65 billion in Google stock.
• It’s the largest video sharing platform on the internet with 2.68 billion active users as of 2023. 
• It’s headquartered in 901 Cherry AvenueSan Bruno, California, United States.
• Some of YouTube’s key people include Neal Mohan (CEO), Chad Hurley (Advisor), and Sundar Pichai (Alphabet CEO).

Top YouTube Stats in 2023

Even in 2023, YouTube continues to dominate the internet. Here are our top picks of key YouTube stats:

• YouTube has reached 2.68 billion monthly active users in 2023.
• YouTube Shorts peaked 50 billion daily views in February 2023.
•  Mr. Beast earned $54 million in 2022, making him the highest paid channel on YouTube.
• The most subscribed channel on YouTube is T-Series with 245 million subscribers, followed by MrBeast with 165 million subscribers and Cocomelon with 162 million subscribers.
• YouTube is the second-biggest search engine after Google because it’s used not only for content consumption but also to look up information, news, and educational content.
• Despite its size and popularity, YouTube is still the second most popular site for influencer marketing. The top site in this segment is Instagram.
• The most popular type of content on YouTube is funny videos.
• People watch a total number of 1 billion hours of videos every day on YouTube.
• On average, 500 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube per minute (or 720,000 hours every day).
• YouTube's top 100 channels have collectively generated 40 billion views.

In Depth Stats: Monthly Active Users

Monthly active users include all users who have taken a “meaningful action on the site in a 30-day period”. This metric does not just include visitors but people who actively engage with content on YouTube on every visit.

• 52% of all internet users access YouTube at least once a month.
• Almost 25% of the entire world population opens YouTube at least once a month.
• Over 50% of smartphone users access YouTube at least once every month.

User Demographics

YouTube's user base is diverse, with users from all age groups and demographics. However, the majority of YouTube users are young, between the ages of 25 and 34. 

Here are some additional stats:

• 53.9% of YouTube users are male and 46.1% are female.
• That’s 1.38 billion male users and 1.18 billion female users.

Breakdown of User Demographics Per Age and Gender

Top 10 Countries with the most YouTube Users

India is the largest market for YouTube, with 467 million monthly active users in 2023. The United States is the second largest, with 247 million users.

Top 10 Countries with the most YouTube Penetration

Despite being the biggest YouTube markets, India and the United States didn’t make it to the top 10 countries with the highest YouTube penetration. Market penetration is a measure of how many people out of the total population of a country use a product or service.

YouTube Revenue

• YouTube has shown average growth in revenue of 30% in the past 4 years.
• The biggest increase in revenue was in 2021, when YouTube generated $28.8 billion, a 46% increase as compared to $19.7 billion in 2020.

YouTuber Earnings

We did a complete breakdown of how much money YouTubers really make here. Although the top names such as MrBeast and Markiplier are known to make millions, most YouTubers on average make just $4,616 a month.

With that being said, here are the top earners on YouTube in 2023:

• Financial success on YouTube usually happens after 1 million subscribers. Before that YouTubers generally have to rely on third-party monetization tools and sponsors to make money.
• There are over 51 million active channels on YouTube and only 41,900 channels have 1M+ subscribers.
• This means that YouTube pays 95% of ad revenue to the top 0.1% of all channels.

If you’re a content creator looking to grow your online career you need to use monetization tools like Paysenger and Patreon.

What’s Paysenger?

Paysenger is a platform designed for small-to-medium size creators in mind. If you’re just starting out on your journey, you need to monetize your creativity to support future work. 

The platform uses a tokenized economy using EGO tokens that rewards all creators equally for producing great content. Earnings on Paysenger are based on engagement levels and views of your content (instead of ad revenue generated for the company). 

In addition, it makes it easier for sponsors and idea makers to collaborate with content creators to promote their products and services. 

Here are some of its features:

• On-demand content: As a creator, you can take one-time requests from sponsors, idea makers or fans to create social media posts, shoutouts, videos or other types of content in exchange for tokens. These tokens can easily be withdrawn to your local bank account.
• Paid messaging: Content creators get targeted by loads of spam messages on their socials. On Paysenger, others need to pay to get your attention in direct messages. This is a communications filter that allows you to only take messages from people who mean business. You get tokens in your account every time you reply to a message.
• Collaborations: Paysenger makes it easy for brands and businesses to collaborate with you. They can simply look you up using niche-based search filters and send you a video request.
• NFT features: Every piece of content you post on Paysenger is a potential long-term digital asset. Social media posts, videos or audios all get minted into an NFT that you can trade on Paysenger’s NFT marketplace.

If someone creates something in collaboration with you, the ownership gets split between you and them so that whenever the NFT earns royalties in the future both people get a cut.

YouTube Video Consumption Trends

One of the most significant video consumption trends on YouTube is the popularity of long-form content. 

According to a study by Vidyard, the average length of a video on YouTube has increased by 22% over the past two years, with the average video duration now standing at 14 minutes. 

This trend can be attributed to the rise of YouTube creators who specialize in long-form content, such as vloggers and podcasters.

Live streaming has also become a popular way for creators to connect with audiences in real-time. In 2020, YouTube Live saw a 45% increase in viewership, with creators using the platform to host live events, product launches, and Q&A sessions.

Most Viewed YouTube Videos of All Time

1. Baby Shark Dance" by Pinkfong Kids' Songs & Stories - 12.85 billion views

2. "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee - 8.16 billion views

3. “Johny Johny Yes Papa” by LooLoo Kids - 6.70 billion views

4. Bath Song” by Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes - 6.20 billion views

5. “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran - 6.00 billion views

6. “See You zAgain” by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth - 5.89 billion views

7. “Phonics Song with Two Words” by ChuChu TV - 5.30 billion views

8. “Wheels on the Bus” by Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes - 5.24 billion views

9. “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - 4.92 billion views

10. “Learning Colors – Colorful Eggs on a Farm” by Miroshka TV - 4.89 billion views

Conclusion

YouTube is a powerful platform that offers businesses and content creators the ability to connect with audiences and drive engagement. 

By understanding the latest YouTube statistics, demographics, and video consumption trends, businesses can develop strategies to increase views and engagement and build brand awareness. 

Looking to grow as a content creator in 2023? Open a Paysenger account and start monetizing your content right away (without any minimum eligibility criteria like YouTube).

Sell on-demand content, reply to messages for money, collaborate with other influencers and grow your followers indefinitely.

Try Paysenger for free on iOS | Android | Web