Over 7,000 YouTube creators in Southeast Asia exceed 1M subscribers

This growth represents a great opportunity for video commerce in the region.

File photo: YouTube

Reaching new heights in SEA's YouTube community

YouTube has reported that 7,600 creators in Southeast Asia have reached over 1 million subscribers. These creators are located across Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Aside from this, over 77,000 channels have also reached 100,000 subscribers.

These impressive and growing figures underscore the platform's wide reach and the huge opportunity for brands to tap into highly engaged audiences through powerful creator-led partnerships.

Video commerce is a significant and growing part of Southeast Asia’s digital economy. It currently accounts for 20 percent of e-commerce GMV, a four-fold increase over the last two years.

YouTube is also solidifying its position as a major driver of this success, reaching 290 million people in Southeast Asia in 2024. This represents 85 percent of the online population in the region. In addition, uploaded content from VN and ID grew 85 percent YoY from 2023-2024.

With its major role in Southeast Asia's video commerce field, brands are leveraging YouTube's extensive reach. This is reflected in a Kantar study that noted 85 percent of viewers in Thailand and 67 percent in Indonesia consider YouTube creator content trustworthy.

This trust extends to brands as well: 60 percent of Indonesian Gen Zs say they trust brands featured by YouTube creators, compared to just 46 percent on other social platforms.

This trust translates into purchase confidence, with YouTube driving almost 4x greater purchase intent than other social media platforms in the region, said Sapna Chadha, VP, Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier, Google.

To drive this further, YouTube Shopping has now launched in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines in partnership with Shopee. The platform allows eligible creators to easily promote products from their own stores or other brands.

This integration with Shopee’s catalogue of products shortens the customer journey from discovery to purchase, allowing brands to reach and engage more consumers and drive better business outcomes.

Creators in the region, according to YouTube data, are also seeing their revenues increase in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In Vietnam, for example, there was a 35 percent YoY increase in the number of channels making 9 figures or more (in VND) in December 2024.

Aside from our mobile phones and laptops, YouTube has also been part of our TVs. In Southeast Asia, YouTube on CTV is reaching over 79 million people across the region.

To go with the trend, creators are making content that provides a high-quality viewing experience on larger screens. In turn, YouTube is evolving the ad experience in the living room to match what viewers want and expect on the big screen.

In the Philippines, McDonald’s saw average daily sales surge by over 46 percent compared to pre-campaign performance, thanks to their CTV campaign with YouTube, while Pepsi in Vietnam increased their reach among 18 to 44-year-olds by 27 percent through this format.

Overall, Nielsen ḣindings indicate that YouTube delivers 2.3x higher long-term ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) than paid social.

With features like long-form storytelling, live streaming, Shorts, and partnerships with marketplaces like Shopee, YouTube enables seamless transitions from discovery to purchase, helping brands tap into highly engaged audiences, said Arthur Altounian, VP Client Strategy & Growth APAC at Goat, WPP MEDIA.

With 86 percent of consumers in Southeast Asia relying on online videos before making buying decisions, YouTube is a critical engine of Southeast Asia's digital economy.