A screenshot of a mukbang video posted on the YouTube channel “Eat with Boki” on July 31, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — At first glance, the world of YouTubers looks splendid as they earn decent incomes by uploading content of their choice.
A deeper look, however, shows that income polarization is deepening.
According to data released by the National Tax Service, the number of YouTubers who received business income from domestic advertising agencies totaled 4,874 last year.
They received a combined income of 20.3 billion won (US$18.6 million) in return for offering their services.
Their per-capita annual income stood at 4.16 million won (US$3,820), about one tenth of the average annual income of ordinary salaried employees, which is estimated at 37.4 million won.
YouTubers get paid by Google Inc. on the basis of the number of clicks on the content they upload and the advertising revenue.
Many people jumped into the YouTube market looking for higher incomes. However, the problem is that the number of YouTubers who generate stable income is very limited.
The income gap between ordinary YouTubers and ‘corporatized’ YouTubers is rapidly widening.
According to the data that Rep. Park Hong-keun of the ruling Democratic Party received from the National Tax Service, the number of corporatized YouTubers totaled 330 in the latter half of last year.
Their advertising income totaled 7.4 billion won, with their per-capita advertising income estimated at 44.9 million won.
Adding the income they earned through product placement (PPL), their per-capita annual income is estimated at 112 million won, about 25 times higher than the average annual income of domestic YouTubers.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
