100 stats on the most subscribed YouTube channels
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We are sitting in a 75-day period of uncertainty around whether the full ban on TikTok will take effect at the start of April this year. After a short temporary suspension on 18th January of this year, many TikTok users and influencers were left scrambling to promote their other social apps to maintain their audience numbers.
While many new very similar apps were developed to try and capitalise on the chaos, platforms like Instagram and YouTube, with already huge audiences, reputations, and trust, took most of the spotlight. Both Instagram and YouTube have short-form video platforms, Reels and Shorts respectively, which were created after the huge success of TikTok during the Covid-19 pandemic.
While Instagram may take a lot of the traffic, because the platform is already equipped for in-app shopping, there is a gradual shift of viewers wanting to watch long-form videos again, which is where YouTube is the expert.
Total YouTube viewers are expected to hit 2.85 billion in 2025, and this number could very easily be much bigger. This huge user base can be credited to the diversity of video lengths, genres and categories through YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, YouTube Premium YouTube Shorts and YouTube TV.
There are currently 65.3 million creators on YouTube- many are brand ambassadors and paid partners advertising and reviewing products from top brands. Mr Beast, the most subscribed YouTube channel (352 million), is estimated to make between $3million-$5milllion for a brand shout-out on one of his videos alone!
Let’s first take a look at some of the stats from the most-watched YouTubers in the UK.
Or scroll further down for stats on the top global YouTubers….
Zoe Sugg (@zoella280390 and @zoesugg)
Zoella is a Brighton-based YouTuber who started posting when she was just 16 years old. Her ‘Zoella’ blog posts drove traffic to her YouTube videos where she focused on beauty and lifestyle topics. From her YouTube channel, she has been able to publish best-selling books and become an ambassador for Mind Mental Health Charity. Today Zoella has grown with her following on a new account and makes videos with her two children and husband Alfie Deyes, who also has an online presence.
- 10.5 million subscribers
- 352 videos
- 1,105,915,369 total video views
- Has been posting videos since 2009
- 6 published books
- The first published book, Girl Online, sold 78,109 copies
- She has been nominated for 9 awards, 7 of which she won
- Zoella’s website earns around £4,000 per month from ads
(Sources: YouTube, YouTubers.me, Wikipedia)
Molly-Mae Hague (@mollymae9879)
Molly-Mae Hague, 25 is a Manchester-based fashion, beauty and lifestyle influencer who found fame from her YouTube videos, which was boosted by Love Island in 2019. Molly found huge fame and is known as the UK’s #1 influencer for beauty and fashion, with trends starting based on what Molly posts on her Instagram, known as the ‘Molly Mae effect’.
- 1.99 million subscribers
- 213 videos
- 227,988,437 total video views
- Created 2016
- 1.1k average comments per video
- Estimated net worth £6million
- Potential earnings of up to £20,000 per Instagram post
- £500,000 business deal with PLT after the exited Love Island
- She has 2 businesses- Filter and Maebe
- Has her own 6 part documentary with Amazon Prime
- Her first collection with Maebe sold out in 24 minutes
(Sources: Youtube, SpeakRJ, Metro, The Independent, The Standard)
Sidemen (@Sidemen)
The Sidemen are a British YouTube group of 7 internet personalities who make videos about gaming, comedy sketches, travel challenges, dating and podcasts.
Alongside their YouTube channel, the group has set up a clothing brand, a fast food line, and are well-known for their charity football matches.
- 21.9M subscribers
- 397 videos
- 6,751,460,758 views
- Posting videos since 2015
- 3 side YouTube channels (More Sidemen, Sidemen Reacts, and Sidemen Shorts) with a combined 17.8 million subscribers
- 93% of their audience are over 18
- A production team of over 100 people who help with the videos and idea generation
- The average video length is 106 minutes
- Their charity football matches each year raise on average £2.4 million
(Sources: YouTube, Advertising Standards Agency, BBC, VidIQ, ESA)
Saffron Barker (@saffronbarker)
Saffron Barker’s YouTube channel is focused on lifestyle, beauty and fitness.
Saffron has a media presence across radio, podcasts, TV and from her YouTube success, she has taken part in TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Hunted. In 2017 she published a biography, and in 2022 started a Spotify original podcast with friend Anastasia Kingsnorth
- 2.44 Million subscribers
- 785 videos
- 491,055,781 views
- Estimated net worth £1million
Ali-A (@AliA)
Alastair Aiken is mainly known on YouTube for his gaming commentaries on Fortnite and Call of Duty, however, he also includes aspects of his day-to-day life and travelling.
His videos consist of video game walk-throughs and challenges requested to him by his viewers. He holds multiple world records for various skills and stats on Minecraft and Call of Duty.
- 19.5 million subscribers
- 4,559 videos
- 6,770,817,944 views
- Channel started in 2006
- Average video length 17 mins
- 5 other channels aside from his main one
- Included in the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 3
(Sources: YouTube, VidIQ, Wikipedia)
Arun Maini (@MrWhoseTheBoss)
MrWhoseTheBoss is an economics graduate whose channel focuses on all things tech, gadgets and reviews. His YouTube consists of playlists like ‘testing gadgets’ ‘I bought the most…’, ‘tech fails’ ‘explainers’ and ‘reviews’.
Arun has grown with his channel since he started posting in 2015, and now frequently posts with his wife and children.
- 20.5M subscribers
- 1,771 videos
- 6,594,896,518 views
- In 2024, he set the Guinness world record for the largest smartphone replica (2.054 metres)
- Average post 1.5 times a week
- Estimated monthly income 120k
(Sources: Youtube, VidIQ, Youtube.me)
Dan Middleton (@DanTDM)
Since starting YouTube in 2012, across all of his channels, Dan has amassed 35 million subscribers combined.
His view counts grew when he started posting his ‘let’s play…’ content, where he would talk through his gameplay on Minecraft, Roblox, Pokemon and Friday Night at Freddy’s.
- 29.2M subscribers
- 3,740 videos
- 20,084,796,661 views
- In 2017, he was named by Forbes as the highest-earning YouTuber, with £12.9 million in one year.
- In 2019 he ranked 49th of 100 on The Sunday Times Influencer list
- Estimated net worth £25 million
- He posted a tweet which ended up gaining 600,000 likes, criticizing the actions of other Influencer YouTubers
- He has featured in three studio productions, 2 featuring as himself
- Holds 2 Guinness World Records
(Sources: The Sunday Times, Youtube, Guinness World Record)
Colin Furze (@colinfurze)
Colin rakes in the views, subscribers, and engagement by posting videos of his crazy inventions, daring stunts and world record attempts with a lack of interest in anything health and safety. He pushes his plumbing and engineering skills to the absolute limit, allowing him to first be recognised by Sky1 on the show GadgetGeeks. His channel started off just posting short clips of the shows he was on, but later developed to him quitting the show and uploading home videos of his inventions from his garage.
- 13.1 Million subscribers
- 420 videos
- 1,828,346,396 views
- 3 Guinness world records including the world’s biggest bonfire
Stats on his inventions:
- Created a flamethrower that had a reach of 15m
- A video demonstrating his version of the Wolverine claws gained 3 million views in 3 weeks
- Built a 14-metre-high trebuchet which he tested with a washing machine
- Carried out a 3-year construction project of building a tunnel which links his house to his workshop,
- Built a 14.26-metre-long motorbike, breaking the world record
- It took him 3 months to build a mobility scooter that was modified to reach speeds of 71mph in an attempt to break another world record
- In 2017 he modified a 1960’s Dodgem car which hit speeds of 107mph and was later asked to be featured on the BBC for The Stig to drive
(Sources: YouTube, BBC News, Ennomotive)
International YouTuber stats
While the UK has its fair share of YouTube personalities, we actually rank 12th for the number of YouTube users who use the platform monthly. The top watched channels are from creators from India (476M)and the US (238M), with almost double and triple some of the subscriber counts.
PewDiePie (@PewDiePie)
PewDiePie is a Swedish Youtuber, who gained popularity posting game commentary mostly about Minecraft. Due to his rapid success on YouTube, he quickly became a very well-known face in the YouTube community, speaking on panels and guest speaking at conventions/gaming events. Since 2010 when he first started posting videos, he has been involved in many controversies and went through a time of posting frequent explainer or apology videos.
Today, after a ‘soft retirement’ he lives in Japan with his wife and Children, posting regularly about Japan life alongside his gaming videos and other popular playlists- ‘You Laugh You Lose’ and ‘meme reviews’.
- 110 Million subscribers
- 4,807 videos
- 29,481,941,626 views
- Has been posting since 2010
- In 2013, he was the first individual YouTuber to reach 100 million subscribers
(Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia, Biography)
MrBeast (@MrBeast)
As of June 2024, Mr Beast became the most subscribed YouTube channel, overtaking the popular Indian channel, T-series. Mr Beast’s huge following on all of his socials started with his YouTube channel, where he started posting about Minecraft, followed by a series of YouTube analytics videos looking at how much money other YouTubers were making.
In the early 2010s, MrBeast jumped on the meme/vine bandwagon, often posting videos of sketches, pranks and giveaways. Over the next few years, his videos developed into extreme challenges, combined with giveaways and charity work, often involving huge teams behind the camera. Today this has further expanded into videos involving huge crowds of people taking part in ‘gameshow-like’ set-ups in the hopes of winning huge sums of money. If you have never been exposed to the type of videos MrBeast creates, these video titles should sum it up perfectly.
- The last to leave the circle wins $500,000
- £10,000 for every day spent in a grocery store
- I spent 50 hours buried alive
He has become a huge internet personality, especially after it was rumoured he was in talks with ‘multiple billionaires’ trying to facilitate a solution for the US TikTok ban.
- 355M subscribers
- 844 videos
- 71,625,159,990 views
In Mr Beast’s own writing he has accomplished the following:
- Raised $20,000,000 To Plant 20,000,000 Trees
- Removed 30,000,000 pounds of trash from the ocean
- Helped 2,000 people walk again
- Helped 1,000 blind people see
- Helped 1,000 deaf people hear
- Built and gave away 100 houses
- Adopted every dog in a shelter (twice)
- Given millions to charity
- Gave away a private island (twice)
- Gave away 1 million meals
- Gave away a chocolate factory
- I counted to 100k
- Ran a marathon in the world’s largest shoes
- Survived 50 hours in Antarctica
- Created the largest competition show with 1000 people (Beast Games)
- Gave $5,000,000 to one person
(Sources: YouTube, Epicmicsound)
T-series (@Tseries)
The second most subscribed YouTube channel is T-series, owned by an Indian music record label and film production company.
Their videos aren’t based on a specific individual, and most of them are music videos or film trailers.
- 285M subscribers
- 22,286 videos
- 283,681,403,738 views
- The first YouTube channel to reach 100 million subscribers
- The first YouTube channel to reach 200 million subscribers
- Estimated yearly earnings for the channel sit between $50M and $100M
- This is a parent channel for 29 other T-series-based channels
- 40% of channel traffic comes from outside India
- T-series have a 35% share of the total music industry in India
- There are 13 people behind the T-series YouTube account
- At the height of their growth, they gained an average of 66,000 subscribers daily
(Sources: YouTube, Bloomberg, BBC, SocialBlade)
Is video marketing worth it?
So there we go- all the key stats and subscriber counts you need for the top UK YouTubers, with 3 bonus international channels.
Video marketing is becoming increasingly popular and effective, not just on YouTube, but across all social apps. If you want to upgrade your social presence and need expert help with growing your accounts, get in touch with our team today.
