Creator economy research Summary: The creator economy is booming like never before. Places like the internet have made it easier than ever for inventive minds to create goods, content, or anything else their heart desires. In fact, most of these creators can be successful with little more than a smartphone or computer.
To find out just how important the creator economy has become, we’ve investigated all of the essential facts about it. And according to our extensive research:
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There are an estimated 50 million people contributing to the creator economy, as of 2023.
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At least 46.7 million creators actually consider themselves amateurs.
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29% of U.S. children want to become a Youtuber/Vlogger when they grow up.
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The global creator economy is estimated to be worth $104.2 billion.
For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Content Creators | YouTubers | Influencers | Trends and Projections | Earnings | Platforms
Creator economy statistics by content creators
The creator economy wouldn’t be possible without content creators. To understand just how important these creators are, here are some general insights our research uncovered:
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As of 2020, there are approximately 450,000 full-time creators.
However, this doesn’t mean that all of these full-time creators make a sizeable income. For example, only 12% of full-time creators make more than $50,000 per year.
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There are 8% more women creators when compared to men.
In total, 51.9% of creators are women, and 48.1% of creators are men. While that is a fairly even split, it does suggest that women are slightly more likely to become creators.
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47.4% of Patreon members work in video, podcasts, music, and gaming.
Patreon is often sought out as an extra source of income. However, only 31% of creators make more than $100 using the platform.
Creator economy statistics YouTubers
YouTube is one of the biggest platforms for creators, and there’s a reason why. Even if it’s hard to gain a following, YouTube’s partnership is a great deal for creators. Here are some interesting facts about YouTube’s role in the creator economy:
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96.5% of YouTubers make less than $12,140 per year.
YouTube is not an evenly split economy, as only 3% of YouTubes make 90% of the wealth. In fact, the vast majority of YouTubers fall well below the poverty line.
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There are approximately 51 million YouTube channels, as of 2022.
The number of channels on YouTube is growing rapidly. Within the past year alone, it grew by a considerable 36%.
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Roughly 2 million YouTube channels have more than 10,000 subs.
That equates to only 1.75% of the total channels on YouTube, meaning the average YouTuber only has a 1/57 chance of gaining more than 10,000 subs.
Creator economy statistics by influencers
Though many creators might loath the term Influencer, the term has become a staple within the creator economy vocabulary. To understand the current state of Influencers (especially on Instagram), we’ve gathered all of the essential facts:
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78% of Influencers make $23,500 or more annually.
While 43% make $50,000 or more annually. Most of this income is generated through sponsorships, which earn the average influencer over $3,000 per sponsored post.
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24.3% of all Instagram accounts have more than 100,000 followers.
That leaves 75.8% of accounts having less than 100,000. In fact, 39.1% have less than 10,000 followers in total, while only 0.5% have over 10 million.
Number of Followers on Instagram Accounts
Number of followers Share of Instagram accounts 0-1K 9.1% 1K-10K 30% 10K-100K 36.7% 100K-1M 19.5% 1M-10M 4.3% 10M+ 0.5%
Creator economy trends and projections
Participating in the creator economy is especially popular with young Americans, and this drives growth. From wanting to be a YouTuber to modelling on Instagram, our research shows that:
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The Influencer marketing market is projected to have a CAGR of 8% through 2025.
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YouTube has experienced a significant 30% growth in revenue over the past four years
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Many creators saw their ad revenue decrease by upwards of 20% during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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The global Digital Content Creation market is projected to reach a market size of $38.2 billion by 2030.
Creator economy statistics by earnings
Being a part of the creator economy is a dream for many, but are the earnings worth it? Much like a new employee looking to become CEO, the pay disparity for new creators compared to established ones is massive. To understand these differences in earnings, here are some interesting facts:
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In the U.S., the average content creator makes $57,234 per year.
That would be the same as earning $27.52 per hour; however, the average could be considered skewed by the few at the top who make huge profits. Only the top 10% of content creators make more than $80,000 per year.
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As of 2021, creators earned an estimated $24.23 million in Patreon payouts.
That’s more than a 26% increase from 2020, when payouts reached an estimated $19.19 million, meaning that creators are relying more and more on Patreon as an important source of income.
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There are roughly 27,000 Twitch partners.
While this is only a fraction of twitch users, these partners make an average of $3,000 to $5,000 each month when playing 40 hours a week.
Creator economy statistics by platforms
Success in the creator economy can often be dependent on which platform you choose to create on. Different platforms appeal to different people, and some have different routes to success. According to our research:
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YouTube is the most profitable content creation platform, with creators earning a combined $4 billion annually.
This is then followed by Etsy ($1.46 billion), Instagram ($460 million), WordPress ($348 million), and Amazon Publishing ($220 million).
Estimated Total Earnings Per Platform
Platform Estimated total earnings YouTube $4B Etsy $1.46B Instagram $460M WordPress $348M Amazon Publishing $220M -
Instagram has the largest number of users who make an income, at 5.64 million users earning a profit from the platform.
This is then followed by WordPress (4.85 million), Tumblr (3.14 million), YouTube (2.19 million), and Etsy (928,000).
Estimated Number of Earners Per Platform
Platform Estimated number of earners Instagram 5.64M WordPress 4.85M Tumblr 3.14M YouTube 2.19M Etsy 928K Amazon Publishing 177K Twitch 27K Shapeways 24.5K eBay 23.8K -
Instagram has the largest number of amateur creators, at 30 million.
Other content creation platforms with a high number of amateur creators include YouTube and Twitch, with 12 million and 2.7 million amateur creators, respectively. On the other hand, professional creators are far less common on all three platforms.
Number of Amateur Creators and Professional creators Per Platorm
Platform Amateur creators Professional creators Instagram 30M 500K YouTube 12M 1M Twitch 2.7M 300K Other 2M 200K
Creator economy FAQ
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How big is the creator economy?
The global creator economy is big, worth over $100 billion. At least 50 million people worldwide consider themselves content creators, and they work on a variety of platforms. For example, a content creator can be anything from a YouTuber or Instagram influencer to someone who sells crafts on Etsy.
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How many full-time creators are there?
There are at least 450,000 full-time content creators. This is significantly less than the 50 million who claim to be creators. Additionally, many of these 450,000 still don’t make a high income. For example, only 12% of full-time creators make more than $50,000 per year.
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How many Americans are creators?
An estimated 17 million Americans are creators. Americans make up roughly 34% of the entire global population of creators.
And the amount of money these creators make is considerable; in 2017 alone, they generated $6.8 billion in total earnings.
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What percentage of creators are amateurs?
93.4% of all creators consider themselves amateurs. In total, there are an estimated 50 million creators worldwide, and a whopping 46.7 million of them consider themselves to be amateurs.
Conclusion
With 50 million people assuming the role of creator, the creator economy is truly booming. In fact, it’s now worth over $100 billion with no signs of growth slowing down.
Today, 29% of U.S. children want to become a Youtuber/Vlogger when they grow up. But, that doesn’t mean succeeding as one is easy.
The vast majority of creators make less than $12,140 per year, putting them below the U.S. poverty line. Standing out amongst the crowd of creators can be extremely difficult, but it does pay off. Ultimately, creators who manage to gain significant followers stand to earn well over $100,000 per year.
References
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Insider. “American kids want to be famous on YouTube, and kids in China want to go to space: survey.” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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Kajabi. “How big is the creator economy?” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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TC. “Only 12% of full-time creators make over $50K a year, says Linktree.” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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Zippia. “Creator Demographics and Statistics.” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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Digital Music News. “96.5% of YouTubers Don’t Earn Enough to Cross the Poverty Line, Study Finds.” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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Tubics. “How Many YouTube Channels Are There?” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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Net Influencer. “How Much Did Influencers Earn Last Year?” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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Zippia. “Content Creator Salary.” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
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Statista. “Where Online Content Creators Make Money.” Accessed on August 2nd, 2022.
Author
Jack Flynn is a writer for Zippia. In his professional career he’s written over 100 research papers, articles and blog posts. Some of his most popular published works include his writing about economic terms and research into job classifications. Jack received his BS from Hampshire College.