India’s creator base has reached 4.12 million, with two-thirds now coming from non-metro regions. While audience engagement has surged to 7.2%, most creators struggle to secure more than one paid brand campaign per year, creating a gap between growth and sustainable income.
The creator economy in India is experiencing a major shift as smaller towns and cities become the new hubs for content creation. According to data from the Indian School of Business and HashFame, the number of creators has grown four times over the past five years to reach 4.12 million. A significant portion of this growth is coming from outside major cities, with non-metro areas now accounting for 66% of the country’s total creator pool.
Scaling Numbers Versus Income
While the sheer volume of creators is rising rapidly, the ability to turn content into a stable income remains a challenge. The number of creators working on brand campaigns grew from 38,000 in 2020 to over 408,000 by 2025. Despite this, the data shows that a majority of these creators secure only one paid brand campaign in a full year. This limitation means many creators earn less than the average salary, making it difficult to treat content creation as a full-time profession. Only those in the micro-creator category, with 10,000 to 100,000 followers and at least five campaigns per year, are approaching income levels that rival traditional jobs.
Marketer Spending and Engagement Trends
There are clear signs that marketers are finding value in this decentralized creator base. Audience engagement, measured by likes and comments relative to total followers, has improved from 1.8% in 2020 to 7.2% in 2025. This rise in engagement is helping to boost confidence among brands. Annual brand campaigns have tripled to reach 42,000, and the average amount spent per campaign has increased 3.6 times during the same period. This indicates that while the industry is still in its early stages of monetization, the value per interaction is rising.
Regional Language Potential
Hindi-language content continues to be a major force, representing 42% of the creator base. However, regional language content is also expanding rapidly, with creators in languages such as Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi collectively outnumbering those producing content in Hindi. States like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra currently lead in the total number of creators. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Gujarat are also emerging as key contributors, showing higher participation than their population size might suggest. The next phase of development for the sector will likely depend on moving from short-term, single-campaign models to more sustainable, long-term brand partnerships that can provide consistent earnings for creators in these regions.