YouTube calculates that it has 265 million active users in India, expects this to roughly double by 2020

India is now one of YouTube's biggest markets. (Source: Rotor Videos)

YouTube has amassed a 265 million-stong user based in the Indian market. Speaking at a recent Google conference, the service's CEO, Susan Wojcicki, projected that this number would grow further to 500 million by next year. The executive attributed this to the availability of 4G in this country.

by Deirdre O Donnell, 2019/04/10

YouTube is enjoying considerable success in India, according to its latest data on this market. Speaking at Google's own annual Brandcast expo, the services chief executive officer (CEO), Susan Wojcicki, announced that 265 million people in this country use the video app on a monthly basis.

Wojcicki also projected that this figure would grow to about 500 million by 2020. The CEO attributed this phenomenal growth to the ubiquity of fast internet in this country. India has some of the cheapest 4G rates in the world; this has transformed the internet landscape there from one in which only 15 million users greeted the launch of YouTube to one that now adds 40 million new ones per year.

YouTube's CEO also announced that over 1,200 Indian channels have made it to a million or more subscribers by now, as opposed to only 15 that achieved the same counts 5 years ago. She also stated that the service's new Music arm is seeing good uptake in this market: it has amassed over 3 million downloads since its launch, which took place less than 7 days before today (April 10, 2019).