YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed more than ₹18,000 crore to India’s GDP and supported over 9.6 lakh full-time equivalent jobs in 2025, according to a report by Oxford Economics. Pasted text
YouTube’s creator ecosystem has emerged as a significant contributor to India’s digital economy, with independent creators increasingly developing their operations into larger media businesses.
According to the Oxford Economics report, the platform’s creative ecosystem contributed over ₹18,000 crore to India’s GDP in 2025 and supported more than 9.6 lakh full-time equivalent jobs.
The number of Indian YouTube channels generating six figures or more in revenue, measured in rupees, increased by over 30% year-on-year. More than 18,000 Indian channels have also crossed one million subscribers.
The report said 73% of creators who monetise their content on YouTube consider the platform their primary source of income. Monetising creators also supported more than three lakh apprentices over the past year.
Creator activity is expanding beyond major metropolitan areas. Creative clusters have developed in cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow and Kochi, creating local demand for video editors, camera operators and scriptwriters.
Indian content is also reaching audiences internationally. More than 15% of watch time on content produced by Indian channels comes from viewers outside India, while 81% of media companies present on the platform said YouTube helped them reach global audiences.
Indian channels uploaded more than 160 million hours of content during the past year, according to the report.
YouTube is also collaborating with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies on digital skilling through the “Create with AI” initiative. Separately, it is working with the Ministry of Culture on efforts to preserve heritage and promote traditional folk and tribal music globally.
The platform is rolling out AI-powered production features, including conversational AI editing for Shorts and agentic channel-management capabilities in Ask Studio. It also said it is introducing AI Likeness Detection alongside labels and disclosures for synthetic content. Pasted text
