YouTube Shorts Statistics Shaping Online Media Content in 2024

We found all the key YouTube Shorts statistics that reveal the rapid growth the platform experienced over the past few years. It turns out that more people are tuning in to watch and create YouTube shorts, and marketers are also turning their attention to YouTube shorts to reach a wider audience.

However, YouTube isn’t the only platform profiting from the short video format. TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook take the largest large chunk of the pie right now, and these recent YouTube statistics reveal how these platforms compare.

Keep reading to see where YouTube Shorts stands against the competition, and discover the platform’s latest viewership, demographics, engagement, and advertisement figures.

Key YouTube Shorts Statistics to Know In 2024

Overview of General YouTube Trends

Before looking at the latest YouTube Shorts statistics, it’s worth learning more about YouTube as a platform. This will put YouTube’s Shorts into context, and it will also give us the whole picture when comparing YT’s short form video platform to competitors like TikTok.

YouTube Is One of the Most Popular Sites Worldwide

As of 2023, YouTube is the second most popular website worldwide after Google, averaging 113 billion monthly visits.

Another 2023 analysis comparing only websites with user-generated content found YouTube is the most visited platform in the world. However, this comparison only looked at web visits and excluded apps, so TikTok didn’t make it into the top 10 despite its massive popularity.

YouTube is also the second most popular social network in the world after Facebook and has an average of 2.5 billion monthly active users as of April 2024.

In comparison, Instagram and TikTok average 2 billion and 1.58 billion MAU, respectively.

YouTube’s Demographic Data

While this data applies to YouTube as a whole, these trends can also give us an idea about YouTube Shorts demographics and the average YouTube shorts user.

For starters, according to 2023 data, the vast majority of recorded YouTube visits are on mobile, where vertical short form videos are a lot easier to watch and interact with, compared to long form content.

Last December, for example, roughly 97 billion of the YouTube visits recorded were on mobile. Throughout July to December 2023, there were over 6 times more mobile visits than desktop visits recorded.

Who Is The Average YouTube Viewer?

According to 2024 estimates, men make up the majority of YouTube’s user base, with a share of 54.3% of recorded users. However, these figures also count duplicate and inactive accounts, and might not be perfectly representative.

YouTube’s audience also skews young. 25–34 year olds account for roughly 21% of the platform users, followed by 35–44 year olds at approximately 18%, and 18–24 year olds at 15.7%. Note the age brackets in the graphic above don’t include YouTube users under 18.

Where YouTube Is Most Popular

Regarding the countries with the largest YouTube audiences, India is by far the biggest contributor. As of April 2024, India had approximately 476 million YouTube users, twice as many as the US at #2.

This makes sense, considering India and the US the second and third biggest countries in the world by population, respectively.

Brazil and Indonesia are other major countries with sizable YouTube user bases. If you’re wondering about China, YouTube is blocked by the Great Firewall of China so there’s no audience there, at least none that can be accurately traced.

On a user-by-user basis, though, it seems like YouTube is most popular in South Korea, Russia, and Malaysia according to the average monthly sessions and monthly time spent on YouTube’s app.

South Korea was #1, with users spending an average of 45.49 hours monthly on the YouTube app, or a little over 1.5 hours a day. YouTube app viewers in South Korea also averaged 366.3 mobile sessions a month (roughly 13 sessions a day).

On the other hand, YouTube viewers in the US averaged 25.56 monthly hours (nearly 55 minutes a day) and 231.8 monthly sessions (8.27 sessions a day) on the app. Note these estimates only include Android users.

The same year, India had the fastest growing YouTube channel worldwide. YouTube shorts channel ‘Shorts Break’ experienced a 2,130% follower growth in 2022; as of July 2024, it has 41M subscribers.

A Look at The Latest YouTube Shorts Statistics

The YouTube Shorts section has grown rapidly since its introduction in 2020.

As of July 2023, YouTube Shorts has 2 billion monthly logged in users – a 34% increase since the previous year. And this is not accounting for the number of shorts viewers without accounts or that use apps like NewPipe or FreeTube, which is likely even higher.

In the US, the estimated number of monthly YouTube Shorts users is nearly 153 million, with a forecast of 164.5 million by the end of 2024.

As for how many people use YouTube shorts to upload content, we can estimate there are over 750k people currently making money as shorts creators through the platform’s partnership program, with many more unmonetized accounts likely uploading shorts as well.

The number of views on YouTube shorts has also skyrocketed from 30 billion in 2021 to 70 billion daily views in 2023. However, it seems that long form content is still king on YouTube, with videos averaging 1,500+ views, compared to shorts with under 650 views.

YouTube Shorts Engagement Statistics

Based on 2024 figures, it seems the average YouTube channel posts 3 shorts a week. Large YouTube channels post the most shorts overall, but small accounts are more likely to favor short form content.

On average, a YouTube channel with over 50k subscribers posts 0.66 shorts a day, and nearly twice as many long form videos. In comparison, channels with under 10k subscribers post fewer shorts, and even fewer long videos.

Regardless of channel size, YouTube Shorts viewership statistics show that shorts have considerably higher engagement rates than long form videos.

For example, accounts with over 50k followers had an engagement rate of 1.72% on long form videos, and 6.23% on shorts in Q1 2024. Shorts generate almost nine times more interactions on average.

The most common form of interaction for YouTube Shorts is likes and dislikes. YouTube Shorts also collect more likes and dislikes on average, compared to longer videos.

The average short receives 37.44 likes, twice as many as a long-form video. However, longer videos typically receive five times as many comments. These differences in engagement could be due to YouTube’s shorts format.

The like and dislike buttons are bigger, more visible, and readily available on the right side of the screen, and therefore easier to tap or click. Combined with the short video length, viewers can quickly decide if they like the content before scrolling onto the next video.

On the other hand, viewers have to open the comments section in a pop-up window. On long form content, the top rated comment is highlighted under the video, which likely entices more viewers to click and engage with other users.

The Most Viewed YouTube Shorts Videos To Date

As of July 2024, the most viewed YouTube short is Real life transforming Cinderella dress!, by Justin Flom. It was uploaded in November 2022, and currently has 1.644 billion views and 30 million likes.

Overall, comedy and lifestyle are the most popular YouTube Shorts genres, with most other top YouTube shorts falling in these categories. Other top viewed shorts with billions of views include:

Most of the top watched YouTube shorts are in English, although Arabic and Korean also feature multiple times among the most-viewed shorts.

The most popular foreign language YouTube short to date is اول تجربة لي بالتصوير (My First Experience With Photography), which amassed over 1.3 billion views since March 2023.

How YouTube Shorts Compares to Competing Platforms

YouTube is the most popular social media platform for user-generated content. It has the most monthly visits and the second most monthly active users.

But YouTube Shorts still has a long way to go to surpass competitors, especially TikTok.

However, these YouTube vs TikTok statistics could change in the future. In case TikTok ends up banned following the recent US decision, a lot of current users, creators, and advertisers using TikTok could move onto YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.

TikTok Is Still the Most Popular Short Video Platform In the US

In the US, TikTok is currently the go-to platform for watching short videos. As of 2023, nearly 40% of American respondents claimed to prefer TikTok for viewing short content.

YouTube Shorts was the second choice, being preferred by 23% of respondents. There wasn’t a sizable difference in popularity for YouTube Shorts compared to Instagram, though, as 22% of respondents chose reels.

Americans also spend less time on YouTube shorts compared to TikTok. 2023 estimates show the average person spent roughly 54 minutes a day on TikTok, and 49 minutes on YouTube, although there’s no mention of the time spent on YouTube shorts exclusively.

The leading social media platform in the US differs across age groups, though. Teenagers, for example, spend nearly two hours a day on YouTube and 1.5 hours on TikTok – three to four times more than the average time they spend on Facebook.

Although younger demographics might spend more time on TikTok, the vast majority also use YouTube. There was virtually no difference in the share of YouTube users among Gen Z and the general population.

This goes to show how popular YouTube is overall. However, YouTube shorts in particular are a different story.

YouTube Shorts Get Fewer Views, but More Engagement

As of Q1 2024, YouTube Shorts videos get significantly fewer views on average, compared to Facebook Reels, Instagram Reels, and TikTok.

While YouTube Shorts receive less than 650 views on average, TikTok videos and Facebook and Instagram reels get thousands more.

TikTok is the leading short video platform by far, with an average of 18,173 views per video – 28 times higher than the average views received by YouTube shorts. Instagram is not far behind, with reels receiving over 16,000 views on average.

This difference is especially noticeable when comparing small accounts. YouTube Shorts accounts with 0–500 followers receive an average of 13 views per video, while Instagram and Facebook reels receive over 500 views.

TikToks from tiny accounts receive 1,200 views on average – over twice the views of reels, and 90 times the views of YouTube shorts.

Even when comparing accounts with over 50k followers, the biggest TikTok accounts get 16 times the average views per short, compared to YouTube (91,000+ views, compared to 5,700 views). However, the average engagement rate doesn’t differ much across platforms.

With the exception of Facebook reels, the average engagement rate is similar among Youtube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram reels, at over 5.5%. As of Q1 2024, YouTube Shorts have the highest average engagement rate of 5.91%, followed by TikTok at 5.75%.

Considering the higher number of views, though, TikToks and Instagram reels seem to get more attention than YouTube shorts. These differences in views could be for various reasons, primarily how each platform’s algorithm operates.

Also, unlike TikTok and Instagram, YouTube is primarily a long-form video platform, so the entire YouTube user base doesn’t necessarily convert to YouTube Shorts viewers.

YouTube Influencer and Advertisement Statistics

The average weekly time spent watching online videos has been increasing, going from 10.5 hours a week in 2018 to 19 hours a week in 2022.

Considering the popularity of YouTube and this near doubling of weekly activity on video platforms overall, we can expect YouTube to remain among the top platforms for online advertisers.

Despite quarterly fluctuations, YouTube’s worldwide ad revenue has been on the rise since 2018. In Q1 2024, the platform’s ad revenue surpassed $8 billion. Since 2020, YouTube’s ad revenue has also been contributing over 10% of Google’s global revenue from all sources.

But even with these strong numbers, YouTube Shorts is still overshadowed by competitors.

General YouTube Shorts Advertisement Trends

As of 2022, TikTok is the leading short video platform for US advertisers. Of the marketing professionals surveyed in the US, 75% said their biggest clients bought ads on TikTok, followed by Instagram reels at 67%.

YouTube Shorts was the third most popular short video advertisement platform, and used by 43% of marketers’ clients.

A larger worldwide survey with over 2,000 respondents had different findings, although it looked at social media platforms overall, not just short video ones.

As of January 2023, Facebook and Instagram were the most popular advertisement platforms globally, being used by 80% or more of marketers. YouTube was in fourth place, used by 54% of respondents. On the other hand, only 26% of marketers claimed to use TikTok.

Although the majority of survey respondents were from the US, it’s worth mentioning the survey also included marketers in India, where TikTok is currently banned, and this might skew the results.

The same global survey found that YouTube could be gaining traction among marketers, with 66% saying they planned to increase their YouTube use for marketing purposes, while only 15% claim to either decrease or not use the platform.

As such, YouTube’s ad revenue could further increase in 2024 and the upcoming years. It’s also worth noting that, as of 2023, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok also ranked equally for the average return on investment (ROI) – estimated at 16%.

The Latest YouTube Influencer Statistics

YouTube influencers make money through different means, including Google Ads revenue, selling fan merchandise, and through sponsored videos.

Expectedly, the largest YouTube influencers also enjoy the highest engagement and revenue. For example, in 2023, the average engagement rate for YouTube influencers with 100,000+ subscribers was roughly 3.4%, nearly double that of smaller channels.

Furthermore, YouTube influencers with over 50k subscribers record the most advertising impressions, since they reach more viewers. In 2022, accounts with over 50k subscribers had over six times the average ad impressions than smaller channels.

And, as of 2023, these large YouTube channels had nearly 7 average ad impressions. The higher number of impressions translates into higher ad revenue.

According to 2023 estimates, channels with over 50k subscribers generate over 5 times the revenue of smaller channels on average. Besides ad revenue, the largest YouTube influencers also make up to $16,000 per sponsored video or more.

However, these ad impression metrics mainly apply to long form content. For starters, YouTube Shorts monetization only started in February 2023, so we’re yet to see more comprehensive data on shorts revenue.

Secondly, YouTube Shorts revenue is a little different from long form videos. That’s because ads in the shorts feed roll between videos, not during the short itself. This can make it more difficult to calculate ad impressions based on shorts views and channel size.

While it’s still unclear how much YouTube Shorts creators make on average, being a YouTube influencer can be lucrative, especially for those with large followings who take sponsorship deals.

And with the global influencer marketing market is forecasted to reach $24 billion in 2024, plus a growing number of marketers turning their attention to YouTube, it’s pretty clear YouTube influencers will continue to see significant opportunities for growth and monetization in the coming years.

However, YouTube can also be competitive, with some niches making up a sizable share of the platform’s creators. For example, nearly 30% of YouTube’s influencers fall in the People & Blogs category.

Entertainment was the second most common category, accounting for nearly 15% of influencers on the platform, followed by Video Games at roughly 13%.

As for YouTube Shorts exclusively, it currently ranks second for the recommended daily posting frequency, though not far behind TikTok.

YouTube accounts with 10–50k subscribers should post 3.29 new short videos a week (the equivalent of a short roughly every other day), while accounts with over 50k subscribers should post nearly 5 videos a week.

In comparison, big TikTok accounts should post 4 videos a week, while huge accounts must post nearly once a day.

In this regard, Instagram and Facebook reels creators have an easier time maintaining their social media presence, likely thanks to the lower competition on these platforms.

Wrapping Up

As these YouTube Shorts statistics reveal, YouTube is already one of the leading short video platforms. Since its 2020 release, YouTube Shorts reached 2 billion monthly logged in users and over 750,000 shorts creators enrolled in the platform’s partner program.

With good engagement rates and increasing users, YouTube Shorts is clearly becoming a go-to platform for both viewers and creators. And despite stiff competition, YouTube Shorts is also garnering increasingly more attention from marketers worldwide.

Since people are spending more time than ever watching short video content, the YouTube Shorts audience will likely keep growing in the upcoming years. If TikTok does get banned in the US, YouTube Shorts and Instagram reels could soon get a large influx of new users, particularly among Gen Z.

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