Who does not know YouTube ™? It’s hard to miss the famous video streaming platform. Today, YouTube ™ remains the international benchmark for consuming audiovisual content. It is truly a juggernaut in the Internet landscape! Indeed, this network is the second most visited website in the world after Google [1].
Find in the article all about YouTube ™: key figures 2021 (2020) , full statistics , audience, attendance, number of videos, ranking, history and key dates.
YouTube ™: 2021 global statistics
Among the web giants, YouTube ™ is the second most visited site in the world [1]. YouTube ™ seduces with the diversity of its content. Indeed, you find different formats on the platform: tutorials, video clips, cartoons, films, short films, reviews …

According to the firm’s press page, more than 2 billion people consult YouTube ™ every month, ie 1/3 of Internet users.[11] .
The social network is invading the planet: it is available in more than 100 countries and translated into 80 languages[11] .
Each day :
- more than 1 billion hours of video are consumed worldwide[11] ;
- 720,000 hours of content added[12] .
According to internetlivestats[20] , every second around 90,000 videos are viewed simultaneously!
YouTube ™ users are:
- mobile, more than 70% of the viewing time is spent on mobile screens[11] ;
- relatively mixed with 54.2% men and 45.8% women (April 2021)[13] .
Regarding financial results, the platform is very profitable for its acquirer Alphabet inc. (Google ™). Indeed, YouTube ™ advertising revenue continues to increase. They have practically doubled in three years: in 2017, they generate 8.15 billion dollars and they amount to 15.15 billion dollars in 2019! [14]
To compare YouTube ™ to other media, we have summarized in this article the social media numbers that matter .
YouTube ™: key figures in France
Like what we see in the world, the presence of YouTube ™ in France is colossal. Positioned in second place on the podium behind Google ™, the network recorded in June 2020 46.6 million unique visitors per month[15] . Being 67 million French according to INSEE[16] , this represents almost 70% of the population !
According to the Médiamétrie report, 78.3% of videos are viewed on mobile[15] .
In France, every day on YouTube ™:
- 19 million average unique visitors visit the platform (June 2020)[15] .
- 76 million music videos are viewed[12] .
- French people aged 25 to 49 spend an average of 31 minutes on the network (2020)[18] . In 2019, this measure lasted 27 minutes, a gain of 4 additional minutes[17] .
- Among 18-34 year olds, the viewing average is 50 minutes (2020)[18] .

The daily French audience[17] of YouTube ™ in 2019 consists of:
- 20% of users between 18 and 24 years old,
- 52% between 25 and 49 years old,
- 28% over 50 years old.
YouTube ™: a boon for businesses
Video remains a content that is still popular with Internet users! YouTube ™ is therefore a major asset for your digital communication strategy. And, the advantages of using this network are numerous:
- First, YouTube ™ is a platform that reaches a lot of people. With over 46 million French users[15] , the potential is enormous! In France, more than 300 channels have more than 1 million subscribers[19] . The audience is clearly present on the network and subscribes. In other words, she is building loyalty!
2. Second, posting on this platform greatly increases your visibility on the Internet. Why ? Because Google ™ displays its audiovisual results in the “Videos” tab. It is therefore an excellent point for your natural referencing.

3. Third, video is a very powerful format for building brand awareness and improving your image. In a strategy of social selling , you have everything to gain from being present on this screen. If you want to share your expertise, this is the place to do it: ¾ French users say they learn with YouTube ™[19] .
4. And fourth, video is much easier to consume than text (hence its popularity on all social networks). You can therefore reach your targets more easily with this medium.
Want to take advantage of the potential of YouTube ™, but you don’t have it yet? So without further ado, check out my article: Which camera to make video on YouTube ™ and LinkedIn ™ ?
To optimize your videos, I advise you to take care of the filling of the fields that accompany it: fill in a catchy title, use keywords in your description, use tags and insert hashtags.
As a bonus, I offer you the list of emojis and emoticons to copy and paste.
The history of YouTube ™: key figures and milestones

In 15 years, the rise of YouTube ™ has been meteoric . Here are 10 dates that trace the history of the social network:
- 2005: Date of creation of YouTube ™ by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, 3 former PayPal ™ employees [2].
- April 23, 2005: The first “Me at the Zoo” video posted on YouTube ™ by Jawed Karim. It now has more than 113 million views [3].
- 2006: Google ™ buys the video distribution network for $ 1.65 billion [2].
- 2007: YouTube ™ opens (in May) and develops (in December) its partnership system. The Youtubers partners receive a remuneration for the advertisements retransmitted next to their videos [4].
- 2012: Impossible to have missed the “Gangnam Style” of Psy! His video was the first to reach over a billion views in 2012 [5].
- 2014: Birth of the YouTube ™ music streaming service: Music Key [6].
- 2015: Launch of the “YouTube Gaming” application, a space reserved for the broadcasting of video game games [7].
- 2015: Deployment of “YouTube Red” (today “YouTube Premium”) offering the possibility via a subscription to access content without advertising [8].
- Also in 2015: The arrival of “YouTube Kids” for families. The app includes parental controls [9].
- 2017: The story feature makes its appearance on YouTube ™ allowing creators to produce content of 30 seconds max[10] .
YouTube ™: complete statistics & key figures 2020 (2019): in conclusion
- more than 2 billion people in the world;
- 100 countries, 80 languages;
- 45.8% women and 54.2% men;
- + 1 billion hours of video viewed every day
- 70% mobile usage;
- In France: 46.6 million monthly users and 19 million average unique visitors per day;
- In France: 52% of users are aged 25 to 49. They spend an average of 31 minutes on the network.
To read on the same subject:
YouTube ™: key figures 2021 (2020) and complete statistics: to sum up in 4 questions
Quelles sont les chiffres clés de YouTube™ dans le monde ?
YouTube ™ has approximately more than 2 billion monthly active users worldwide (2020). Over 1 billion hours of video are watched every day. Content viewed on mobile represents 70% of YouTube ™ viewing. Source: YouTube ™
Quels sont les chiffres clés de YouTube™ en France ?
According to Médiamétrie, in June 2020, YouTube ™ recorded 46.6 million unique visitors per month and 19 million average unique visitors per day. 78.3% of videos are viewed on mobile screens. The 25 – 49 age group represents 52% of French users. They spend an average of 31 minutes on YouTube ™.
Quelles sont les statistiques des vidéos YouTube™ ?
Every day in the world, on YouTube ™ more than 1 billion hours of video are viewed and 720,000 hours are added to it. And every second, around 90,000 videos are viewed simultaneously. Sources: YouTube ™ / BDM / Internetlivestats
Quel est le nombre d'utilisateurs de YouTube™ ?
On YouTube ™, there are more than 2 billion monthly active users in the world and 46.6 million unique visitors per month in France (2020). It is the second most visited site after Google. Sources: YouTube ™ / Médiamétrie / Similarweb
Sources:
[1] https://fr.statista.com/infographie/17618/nombre-de-visites-sites-web-monde/ and https://www.similarweb.com/fr/top-websites/[2] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw&ab_channel=jawed
[4] https://youtube.googleblog.com/2007/12/partner-program-expands.html
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&ab_channel=officialpsy
[6] https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-music-2014
[7] https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/25/9207711/youtube-gaming-launch
[8] https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/red-originals/
[9] https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/more-for-your-family-in-youtube-kids-app/
[10] https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/expanding-community-on-youtube
[11] https://www.youtube.com/intl/fr/about/press/
[12] https://www.blogdumoderateur.com/chiffres-youtube/
[13] https://www.slideshare.net/DataReportal/digital-2021-april-global-statshot-report-v01
[14] https://fr.statista.com/infographie/20703/chiffre-affaires-publicitaire-de-youtube/
[15] https://www.mediametrie.fr/sites/default/files/2020-08/2020%2008%2024%20-%20CP%20Audience%20Internet%20Global_Juin%202020%20vf.pdf
[16] https://www.insee.fr/fr/accueil
[17] https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/fr-fr/strat %C3% A9gies-marketing / video / infographie-mediametrie-youtube-27-minutes /
[18] https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/fr-fr/solutions/video/31-minutes-youtube/
[19] https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/fr-fr/insights/tendances-consommateurs/youtube-infiniment-personnel/
[20] https://www.internetlivestats.com/one-second/#youtube-band