Almost one in two people regularly watch YouTube videos

Result

Almost half of all Germans watch YouTube videos at least once a week. This is a particularly popular pastime for men (551,000 compared to 381,000 women). Looking at different life stages, young adults (741,000) are especially likely to watch such clips. In middle age, about half of all Germans are users, with singles and couples being more active on YouTube than parents. Even among young seniors, one in three and among retirees, one in four regularly watch videos.

Reasons

In the 18 years since its founding, the video portal has become one of the world's most popular online platforms – currently boasting over 2.6 billion monthly users worldwide, meaning roughly one in three people on Earth uses YouTube. One reason for its immense popularity is the vast amount of freely available content. With nearly 800 million videos, there's something for everyone, whether you're interested in music, movies, TV series, educational content, repair tutorials, cat videos, travelogues, or any other topic.

Moreover, this type of leisure activity is convenient. Smartphones and internet access are all that's needed to watch the videos anytime, anywhere. Creating them is just as convenient – a smartphone is all you need to produce new content and upload it within minutes. Statistically, around 500 hours of new video material are uploaded by users every minute, which are then watched, commented on, liked, or shared.

Forecast

YouTube will and must constantly evolve to continue meeting the needs and preferences of its users. One step in this direction will be the ability to offer more interactive and immersive content. This will include the integration of virtual reality and augmented reality, which will involve the user more actively.

Furthermore, the portal will increasingly focus on e-commerce. The platform already offers features that allow users to order specific products by clicking buttons integrated into the video. It will likely only be a matter of time before additional subscriptions or paid memberships are offered for access to specific content.