Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic caused billions of people to stay inside their homes and spend more time on the internet.

Since businesses have seen the growth of the internet and social media active users daily, more brand owners find ways to market using the internet.

Influencer marketing became more significant for connecting businesses with their target consumers.

This added fuel to the fire for influencers and content creators. 

Influencers make a review and recommendations about a specific product. In this way, they can genuinely influence their viewers and followers.

Wondering how many influencers are there in the world in 2024? Let’s find out in this article.

Key Statistics

  • There are an estimated 50 million people who call themselves influencers.
  • The combined numbers of influencers on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are from 3.2 million to 37.8 million.
  • Influencers with more than 1,000,000 followers are called mega influencers. They can charge over $10,000 for every post on social media.
  • There are 1.5 million to 5 million YouTube influencers worldwide.
  • 54% of influencers on Instagram are considered nano influencers.
  • TikTok has around 50,000 influencers with more than 1,000 followers.
  • Top-ranking influencers/celebrities can make up to $1 million for one post on Instagram.
  • Khabane Lame is one of the top influencers in TikTok, with 157.0 million followers.

How Many Influencers Are There in The World in 2024?

Influencers

There is no exact number of influencers since anyone can be an influencer.

However, Forbes claims that approximately 50 million people call themselves influencers.

The combined estimated numbers of Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok influencers range from 3.2 million to 37.8 million.

Based on some other estimations, Instagram influencers are between 20,000 to 37,000,000.

However, after reliability check filters, it trimmed the range from 176,000 to 37,000,000.

While YouTube influencers range from 1.5 million to 5 million after reliability check filters.

Other social media platform particularly TikTok, has an average of 50,000 influencers with more than 1,000 followers.

Brands employ influencers to review and promote their products. This helps their products to reach more consumers.

In January 2020, Instagram leads all social media platforms for influencer marketing. About 89% believed this platform was the best platform for their influencer marketing.

Different Types of Influencers

People who want to be influencers do not need millions of followers before they can influence.

They need familiarization with a specific topic, regularly post on social media platforms, and genuinely influence others.

Here are the different types of influencers in the world:

  • Nano Influencers – have at least 1,000 to 10,000 followers. These influencers can charge between $10 to $100 for every post on social media.
  • Micro-Influencers – have at least 10,000 to 50,000 followers. These influencers can charge between $100 to $500 for every post on social media.
  • Mid-tier Influencers – have at least 50,000 to 500,000 followers. These influencers can charge between $500 to $5,000 for every post on social media.
  • Macro-Influencers – have at least 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers. These influencers can charge between $5,000 to $10,000 for every post on social media.
  • Mega Influencers – have more than 1,000,000 followers. These influencers can charge over $10,000 for every post on social media.

YouTube Influencers

At present, there are more than 37 million active accounts on YouTube. Among these accounts, 5 million have more than 1,000 subscribers.

After applying reliability check filters, YouTube influencers only range from 1.5 million to 5 million.

These influencers were approximately 30% of the top 1,000 accounts, while brands and publishers were 47%, and artists and celebrities were 22%.

Below is YouTube’s influencer tier distribution, based on Mediakix:

  • 38% of YouTube influencers are considered nano influencers
  • 39% of YouTube influencers are considered micro-influencers
  • 20% of YouTube influencers are considered mid-tier influencers
  • Less than 2% of YouTube influencers are considered macro-influencers
  • Less than 1% of YouTube influencers are considered mega influencers

Influencers on Instagram

Instagram is one of the leading influencer marketing platforms worldwide. A 2020 survey reveals that almost 90% of marketers prefer Instagram for influencer marketing.

Zara was recorded to be the most-mentioned brand on this platform in 2022, apart from Instagram.

Zara received 182 thousand Instagram mentions, while Instagram itself received 327 thousand.

The number of Instagram influencers with over 1,000 followers ranges from 2 million to 37 million.

While those who have more than 100,000 followers range from 300,000 to 2 million, and influencers with more than 1 million followers range from 20,000 to 40,000.

Here is Instagram’s influencer tier distribution based on Mediakix:

  • 54% of Instagram influencers are considered nano influencers
  • 33% of Instagram influencers are considered micro-influencers
  • 11% of Instagram influencers are considered mid-tier influencers
  • Less than 1% of Instagram influencers are considered macro-influencers
  • Less than 1% of Instagram influencers are considered mega influencers

How Much Do Top-Ranking Influencers Make?

Influencer money

More businesses and brand owners today pay influencers instead of giving free products.

About 41.6% of brands pay money to their influencers, while 29.5% give free product samples.

Some reports show that top-ranking influencers/celebrities can earn up to $1 million for one Instagram post.

Influencers with lesser followers can make around $10 to $10,000 for every post on social media.

Influencer Marketing

Social media apps are one of the go-to platforms of most brands to reach a wider audience.

Influencer marketing continuously increases in popularity since people love checking product reviews, details, and recommendations posted on social media by their favorite influencers.

As of 2022, the influencer marketing market size is approximately $16.4 billion.

It is up from $1.7 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $21.1 billion this year.

How Much Brand Owners Spend on Influencer Marketing?

Brands spend money on influencer marketing to expand their audience reach and generate potential leads.

Some are willing to spend less than $10,000 yearly, while others spend more than $500,000 yearly.

43% of brands spend less than $10,000 yearly on influencer marketing. About 36% spend around $10,000 to $100,000 yearly and 21% spend more than $100,000.

Most Used Channel by Influencer Marketing Brand

TikTok is the most-used channel by brands in 2023 in influencer marketing.

More than 55% of brands used this platform for influencer marketing campaigns. Instagram follows, with almost 51%.

Here are the four most-used channels by brands for influencer marketing campaigns in 2023:

  • 55.5% of brands used TikTok for influencer marketing campaigns
  • 50.8% of brands used Instagram for influencer marketing campaigns
  • 42.1% of brands used Facebook for influencer marketing campaigns
  • 38.3% of brands used YouTube for influencer marketing campaigns

Top Influencers on TikTok

TikTok

Here are the top influencers on TikTok with more than 50 million followers:

  1. Khabane Lame – with 157.0 million followers on TikTok
  2. Charlie D’Amelio – with 150.5 million followers on TikTok
  3. Bella Poarch – with 92.8 million followers on TikTok
  4. Addison Rae – with 88.7 million followers on TikTok
  5. Zach King – with 75.7 million followers on TikTok
  6. Kimberly Loaiza – with 74.4 million followers on TikTok
  7. CZN Burak – with 70.6 million followers on TikTok
  8. Dixie D’Amelio – with 57.2 million followers on TikTok
  9. Spencer X – with 55.3 million followers on TikTok
  10. Loren Gray – with 54.4 million followers on TikTok

Conclusion

Now you know the number of influencers in the world in 2024, the social media platforms they use, how much they can earn, and the top influencers.

There are an estimated 50 million influencers worldwide, based on Forbes.

The combined numbers of Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok influencers are around 3.2 million to 37.8 million.

This shows that influencer marketing is now one of the most effective forms of marketing.

Most influencers post photos, videos, podcasts, blogs, and reviews of products to engage people in the products or topics they advocate.

Sources

Digital Information WorldIncreditools The Small Business Blog
Influencer MarketingHubForbesBrybe
Influencer MarketingHubEarthWebStatista