Annual Income of the Top 1% of YouTube Creators and Internet Streamers Revealed

The Top 1% make up 29.2% of the creators’ total income

Individual media creators such as YouTubers and internet streamers (BJs) total annual income has exceeded 1 trillion won (approximately $754 million)

According to data received from the National Tax Service by Yang Kyung-Sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee, on July 7, the number of individual media creators who reported income in 2022 was 39,366, and the total income was 1.142 trillion won (approximately $860 million).

The total income of the top 1% of individual media creators, which is 393 people, was 333.3 billion won (approximately $250 million), accounting for 29.2% of the total income. Their average income was 848 million won ($638,000), which is a 26.4% increase from the average of the top 1% in 2019 (671 million won, approximately $505,000).

The total income of the top 10%, which is 3,936 people, was 868.4 billion won (approximately $653 million), accounting for 76.0% of the total. The average income per person was 221 million won ($166,000).

The average income of all individual media creators was 29 million won (approximately $21,800), a decrease of 3 million won from three years ago (32 million won, approximately $24,100).

Assemblywoman Yang Kyung-Sook said, “As the number of YouTubers has surged, their total income has significantly increased. However, the competition has become fierce, and only a very small number of YouTubers are making a large income.”

The total income of individual media creators has been increasing every year, with 87.5 billion won (approximately $65 million) in 2019, 452.1 billion won (approximately $340 million) in 2020, and 858.9 billion won (approximately $646 million) in 2021.