South Koreans devoted over 100 billion minutes to YouTube in the past month. (Image courtesy of Wiseapp)
SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – According to a recent study, South Koreans devoted over 100 billion minutes to YouTube in the past month. This data, collected through a survey of a smartphone user sample by Wiseapp, a service specializing in app and retail analytics, reveals a significant uptick in YouTube usage.
Comparing figures from October, the year-on-year surge in YouTube consumption is noteworthy, skyrocketing from 39.5 billion minutes in 2018 to an impressive 144 billion minutes last month—effectively doubling over a five-year period. Notably, this year marks the first in which the 100 billion-minute milestone has been surpassed.
October’s YouTube usage figures exceeded 100 billion minutes for the fifth time in 2023, with previous instances occurring in January (115 billion), May (122 billion), July (133 billion), and August (168 billion).
YouTube’s monthly usage time of 144 billion minutes dwarfs that of other platforms. (Image courtesy of Wiseapp)
To contextualize YouTube’s dominance, its monthly usage time of 144 billion minutes dwarfs that of other platforms. In comparison to KakaoTalk (31.9 billion minutes) and Naver (22.2 billion minutes), YouTube’s usage time is 3.3 and 4.7 times higher, respectively. Moreover, it significantly surpasses Instagram (17.2 billion minutes) and TikTok (7.9 billion minutes).
WiseApp attributes YouTube’s remarkable growth to an influx of users during the pandemic, a trend that has endured beyond the pandemic’s peak. The analysis emphasizes the impact of short-form (short video) content in driving this substantial increase in dwell time on the platform.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
