India’s Vast Creator Economy is Booming, But Inequality Defines It 

Six years ago, a small-town boy from Uttar Pradesh decided to put his smartphone to creative use. A few online tutorials later, Mridul Tiwari, then 19, began producing short dramatised parodies of school life and uploading them on YouTube. When the first few videos started getting traction, Mr Tiwari learnt an early lesson: consistency is the currency of the internet. That’s how a new YouTube channel, ‘The MriDul’, took shape. His content, which he diversified over time, struck a chord with millions, riding India’s rapidly expanding access to smartphones and mobile internet. The channel now has 19.5 million subscribers, and counting. 

There are many such stories. Bhuvan Bam, who built ‘BB Ki Vines’ into a cultural phenomenon, with 26.6 million subscribers, remains one of India’s earliest YouTube success stories, parlaying short comic sketches into web series and brand partnerships. Amit Sharma, better known as ‘CrazyXYZ’, for his spectacle-driven experiment videos, has more than 35 million subscribers. In a very different genre, creators such as Mohak Mangal have built large followings around policy and civic explainers, showing that influence need not be frivolous.

Together, these creators illustrate the diversity of India’s creator economy — spanning comedy, lifestyle, education, social commentary, and, of course, podcasts (with popular names like Ranveer Allahbadia and Raj Shamani) — and the relatively rare instances where sustained visibility translates into income and brand power. Yet for every breakout star, there are tens of thousands whose reach far exceeds their earnings, exposing the deep imbalances at the heart of this ecosystem.

Unequal Growth 
According to a report published by the Boston Consulting Group earlier this year, India has between 2 million and 2.5 million active digital creators – defined as those with more than 1,000 followers. BCG estimates that creators influence $350-400 billion of consumer spending annually — a figure projected to cross $1 trillion by 2030. The message is clear: creators are no longer fringe entertainers; they are central to how Indians discover, trust and buy.

The government echoed this optimism ahead of the WAVES 2025 summit in Mumbai in May. Citing the BCG report, it noted that India’s creator ecosystem influences a substantial share of consumer decisions. Revenues generated by the ecosystem are estimated at $20-25 billion, rising to $100–125 billion by the end of the decade.

Yet the same data also lays bare a structural imbalance in two broad ways:

Monetisation remains limited for most participants. Only eight to 10 of every 100 active creators earn meaningfully from their content. Even among those who do, monetisation is heavily skewed towards a thin elite. 

For every $100 of consumer spending influenced by creators, only around $5.71 flows back into the ecosystem itself (drawn from simple arithmetic: $20 billion/$350 billion). 

Skewed Returns 
The State of Influencer Marketing  in India survey by EY, published in 2024, helps explain this from the demand side. Influencer marketing has gone mainstream, forming part of three out of four brand marketing strategies. EY estimates that India’s influencer marketing industry could reach ₹33.75 billion by 2026, growing at a compounded annual rate of around 18%.

However, brand preferences reinforce income concentration. Micro and nano influencers dominate campaigns, not because of higher payouts, but because they offer cheaper reach and higher engagement. Nearly half the brands surveyed cited cost efficiency as their primary reason for working with smaller creators.

Nano influencers are everyday social media users with 1,000 to 10,000 followers, and micro influencers with up to 100,000. They are seen as authentic experts in their niche, fostering trust and engagement. Anyone who has scrolled past ads from Nykaa, Mamaearth, Zomato or Swiggy will recognise how these influencers help brands go hyperlocal on a budget.

Compensation structures further limit earning potential. EY finds that 71% of brands pay fixed fees, while only 29% experiment with performance-linked models. Fixed fees cap upside for creators even when campaigns succeed, while brands retain the flexibility to dial spending up or down.

Winner Takes All
Both reports point to intense concentration at the platform level. EY identifies Instagram and YouTube as the dominant arenas for influencer marketing. BCG highlights short-form video as the runaway format, with entertainment-led genres such as comedy, films, daily soaps and fashion among the most consumed categories. 

BCG’s consumer survey shows most users engage with creator content primarily for entertainment rather than information or utility. On the one hand, this drives reach and engagement. On the other hand, it intensifies the scramble for attention, reinforcing winner-takes-most dynamics where a handful of creators capture disproportionate visibility and income.

The EY report also reveals how tentative participation remains. Most creators reported spending fewer than 10 hours a week on content creation, and only a small minority earn more than ₹100,000 a month. Even allowing for the limits of self-reported data, the picture is clear: for most, creation is a side hustle, not a livelihood. 

While the government and industry remain optimistic, projecting brand investments to rise 1.5 to three times in the coming years, crucial questions remain unanswered. How volatile are creator incomes? How long do creators last before burning out or dropping out? And how will taxation, labour classification and social protection evolve for this growing workforce?

Until those questions are addressed, India’s creator economy will remain as it is: vast in influence, loud in promise, but deeply unequal in reward.