India‘s creator economy is on track to generate more than $100 billion in revenue by 2030, with consumer spending influenced by digital content creators projected to surpass $1 trillion, according to a new study from Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
The report, “From Content to Commerce: Mapping India’s Creator Economy,” analyzes data from over 1,900 consumers and 60 brands across various categories, providing insights into the expanding digital content ecosystem that now influences approximately 30% of consumer purchase decisions in India.
Scale and Market Penetration
India currently hosts 2-2.5 million content creators with more than 1,000 followers each, collectively influencing $350-400 billion in consumer spending and generating $20-25 billion in ecosystem revenue. This influence extends beyond traditional demographic boundaries, with comparable rates of exposure and influence across different age groups, genders, and city tiers.
“Creator influence is no longer a ‘Metro,’ ‘Men,’ ‘Millennial’ phenomenon,” the report states, noting that creator content reaches about 65% of consumers in metropolitan areas and 64% in tier 2 (populations between 1-4 million) and tier 3 (populations below 1 million) cities, with influence rates ranging from 32-35% across these locations.
The ecosystem has significant room for growth compared to more mature markets. Only 8-10% of India’s creators effectively monetize their content, compared to monetization rates exceeding 40% in countries like the United States, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil.
Image source: BCG
Content Consumption Trends
Short-form video emerges as the dominant format, followed by static posts, long-form video, and blogs. Entertainment-focused categories lead in audience engagement, with comedy (45%), movies and daily soaps (35%), and fashion (33%) ranking as the top three content genres consumed in India.
When selecting platforms, consumers prioritize content quality (30%), relevance (30%), and variety (30%) over technical features such as lack of buffering (26%) or ease of sharing (26%).
Image source: BCG
Brand Engagement and Investment
Brands across sectors are increasing their investments in creator-led marketing, with 70% expected to increase their creator budgets by 1.5-3x over the next 2-3 years. Currently, brands engaged in influencer marketing allocate 10-20% of their marketing budgets to creators.
Lifestyle categories show the highest creator influence, with fashion (20%), beauty and personal care (21%), and entertainment (19%) reporting the strongest purchase influence rates. Categories like financial services (11%), home décor (12%), and travel (12%) show less creator-driven purchase influence but represent growth opportunities.
“Relatability and content fit with target audience are the most important characteristics brands look for when designing a creator-led campaign,” the report notes, highlighting that brands aim to achieve various objectives through creator partnerships, with increasing consideration (70%) and awareness (40%) being the top priorities.
Monetization
The revenue model for India’s creator economy currently relies heavily on brand spending (approximately 90%), with limited contributions from social commerce, micropayments, and other monetization channels. By 2030, BCG projects a more diversified revenue mix:
Brand spending: 70% (down from 90%)
Social commerce: 15% (up from 10%)
Micropayments/tipping: 10% (new significant revenue stream)
Other monetization models: 5% (including subscriptions, own ventures)
“Future growth in India’s creator economy hinges on high-potential yet under-penetrated models of virtual gifting, subscriptions, and live commerce,” the report states, identifying these as key growth areas based on successful implementations in other markets.
Image source: BCG
Challenges and Friction Points
Several challenges limit ecosystem growth, with brands citing fake followership/engagement (74%), lack of measurable ROI (40%), and brand reputation risks (38%) as their top concerns.
For creators, monetization remains a significant challenge. Despite India’s large creator base (2-2.5 million), the majority struggle to generate consistent income, with “long tail influencers earning less than INR 18K per month.”
Regional Indian platforms have made progress with virtual gifting models within live streams, particularly in tier 2 and tier 3 towns, while live commerce and subscription-based models remain in early stages of adoption.
Strategic Shifts for Ecosystem Participants
The report outlines necessary adaptations for stakeholders to capitalize on future growth:
For Brands:
Need for faster content creation cycles
Balance of brand risk with creative freedom
Diversified targeting strategies with creator portfolios
Real-time planning agility and outcome testing
For Platforms:
Providing better resources for creator discoverability
Developing infrastructure for new monetization models
Creating complete ecosystems under one roof for seamless experiences
For Creators:
Upskilling and experimenting with new revenue streams
Building large communities that enable monetization even with smaller individual transactions
Investing in high-quality content to drive subscription value
Technology and Future Growth Drivers
The report identifies three key movements that will drive the creator economy toward the $1 trillion influence mark:
Growth in influence: Secular expansion across all categories, demographics, and geographies, accelerated by Gen Z and younger consumers entering the market
Technological advancements: Generative AI streamlining content creation and campaign execution
Reduced friction: Stakeholders removing barriers through improved trust, better infrastructure, and creator support
The shift from primarily brand-funded models to more consumer-direct monetization represents the next frontier, with BCG noting that “regional platforms with a strong base in tier 2 and tier 3 towns have seen high rates of adoption” for models like virtual gifting.
As user time increasingly shifts toward creator-driven platforms (75-80% of time spent on media content and commerce platforms), BCG believes the ecosystem is poised for continued growth, requiring all participants to adapt their strategies accordingly.
Nii A. Ahene is the founder and managing director of Net Influencer, a website dedicated to offering insights into the influencer marketing industry. Together with its newsletter, Influencer Weekly, Net Influencer provides news, commentary, and analysis of the events shaping the creator and influencer marketing space. Through interviews with startups, influencers, brands, and platforms, Nii and his team explore how influencer marketing is being effectively used to benefit businesses and personal brands alike.
India‘s creator economy is on track to generate more than $100 billion in revenue by 2030, with consumer spending influenced by digital content creators projected to surpass $1 trillion, according to a new study from Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
The report, “From Content to Commerce: Mapping India’s Creator Economy,” analyzes data from over 1,900 consumers and 60 brands across various categories, providing insights into the expanding digital content ecosystem that now influences approximately 30% of consumer purchase decisions in India.
Scale and Market Penetration
India currently hosts 2-2.5 million content creators with more than 1,000 followers each, collectively influencing $350-400 billion in consumer spending and generating $20-25 billion in ecosystem revenue. This influence extends beyond traditional demographic boundaries, with comparable rates of exposure and influence across different age groups, genders, and city tiers.
“Creator influence is no longer a ‘Metro,’ ‘Men,’ ‘Millennial’ phenomenon,” the report states, noting that creator content reaches about 65% of consumers in metropolitan areas and 64% in tier 2 (populations between 1-4 million) and tier 3 (populations below 1 million) cities, with influence rates ranging from 32-35% across these locations.
The ecosystem has significant room for growth compared to more mature markets. Only 8-10% of India’s creators effectively monetize their content, compared to monetization rates exceeding 40% in countries like the United States, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil.
Image source: BCG
Content Consumption Trends
Short-form video emerges as the dominant format, followed by static posts, long-form video, and blogs. Entertainment-focused categories lead in audience engagement, with comedy (45%), movies and daily soaps (35%), and fashion (33%) ranking as the top three content genres consumed in India.
When selecting platforms, consumers prioritize content quality (30%), relevance (30%), and variety (30%) over technical features such as lack of buffering (26%) or ease of sharing (26%).
Image source: BCG
Brand Engagement and Investment
Brands across sectors are increasing their investments in creator-led marketing, with 70% expected to increase their creator budgets by 1.5-3x over the next 2-3 years. Currently, brands engaged in influencer marketing allocate 10-20% of their marketing budgets to creators.
Lifestyle categories show the highest creator influence, with fashion (20%), beauty and personal care (21%), and entertainment (19%) reporting the strongest purchase influence rates. Categories like financial services (11%), home décor (12%), and travel (12%) show less creator-driven purchase influence but represent growth opportunities.
“Relatability and content fit with target audience are the most important characteristics brands look for when designing a creator-led campaign,” the report notes, highlighting that brands aim to achieve various objectives through creator partnerships, with increasing consideration (70%) and awareness (40%) being the top priorities.
Monetization
The revenue model for India’s creator economy currently relies heavily on brand spending (approximately 90%), with limited contributions from social commerce, micropayments, and other monetization channels. By 2030, BCG projects a more diversified revenue mix:
“Future growth in India’s creator economy hinges on high-potential yet under-penetrated models of virtual gifting, subscriptions, and live commerce,” the report states, identifying these as key growth areas based on successful implementations in other markets.
Image source: BCG
Challenges and Friction Points
Several challenges limit ecosystem growth, with brands citing fake followership/engagement (74%), lack of measurable ROI (40%), and brand reputation risks (38%) as their top concerns.
For creators, monetization remains a significant challenge. Despite India’s large creator base (2-2.5 million), the majority struggle to generate consistent income, with “long tail influencers earning less than INR 18K per month.”
Regional Indian platforms have made progress with virtual gifting models within live streams, particularly in tier 2 and tier 3 towns, while live commerce and subscription-based models remain in early stages of adoption.
Strategic Shifts for Ecosystem Participants
The report outlines necessary adaptations for stakeholders to capitalize on future growth:
For Brands:
For Platforms:
For Creators:
Technology and Future Growth Drivers
The report identifies three key movements that will drive the creator economy toward the $1 trillion influence mark:
The shift from primarily brand-funded models to more consumer-direct monetization represents the next frontier, with BCG noting that “regional platforms with a strong base in tier 2 and tier 3 towns have seen high rates of adoption” for models like virtual gifting.
As user time increasingly shifts toward creator-driven platforms (75-80% of time spent on media content and commerce platforms), BCG believes the ecosystem is poised for continued growth, requiring all participants to adapt their strategies accordingly.
Get the full report here.