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Google disclosed that YouTube generated more than $60bn in revenue in 2025, combining advertising income and paid subscriptions. That total outstrips streaming rival Netflix, which reported about $45bn in revenue. Google’s announcement appears to be the first time it has separately published an annual revenue figure for YouTube since acquiring the platform in 2006.
While YouTube's global ad revenue in the last three months of 2025 fell below Wall Street expectations at $11.38bn, Google boss Sundar Pichai highlighted YouTube's broader growth as part of a "fantastic year" for the company.
He said YouTube Premium - its service letting users pay to remove ads between videos, or songs on its music service - had helped boost paid subscriptions across Google consumer services to more than 325 million in 2025 overall.
The company has not released YouTube's own subscriber numbers. But Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, told investors on an earnings call on Wednesday YouTube was seeing "strong traction" in subscriptions.
He said it has been "innovating to meet consumers where they are" with new, cheaper YouTube TV and Premium tiers.
The firm has also been trying to find more ways to get people to subscribe - such as only allowing Premium users to play videos in the background on smartphones.
At the same time, Shorts, YouTube's TikTok-style short videos, was also said to be averaging more than 200 billion daily views.
As it celebrated its 20th birthday last year, YouTube swelled to become the second most-watched media service in the UK after the BBC, according to Ofcom.
Ofcom later found the platform was used by 94% of UK adult internet users, with time spent on it growing to reach an average of 51 minutes a day per person.
The UK's public service broadcaster recently announced plans to make shows for YouTube in a landmark deal.
YouTube's $60bn revenue in 2025 meanwhile beat that of rival Netflix.
