India’s digital landscape is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the rise of its creator economy. A new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), titled “From Content to Commerce: Mapping India’s Creator Economy”, set to be launched tomorrow (3rd May 2025) at WAVES 2025 in Mumbai,will reveal that India’s creators currently influence over $350 billion in consumer spending annually — a figure expected to surpass $1 trillion by 2030.
The report highlights that India is home to 2 to 2.5 million active digital creators, defined as individuals with over 1,000 followers. Despite the scale, only 8–10% of them currently monetize their content effectively, underscoring the untapped potential of this fast-growing sector. The creator ecosystem’s direct revenues, estimated at $20–25 billion today, are projected to reach $100–125 billion by the end of the decade.
Key insights from the report will include:
- Creators influence more than 30% of consumer decisions, shaping $350–400 billion in spending today.
- The ecosystem is expanding beyond Gen Z and metropolitan centres, reaching varied age groups and city tiers.
- Short-form video remains the dominant content format, with comedy, films, daily soaps, and fashion being the most consumed genres.
- Brand strategies are evolving, with increased emphasis on faster content production, greater creative freedom, diversified consumer targeting, and outcome-based testing.
- Revenue models are diversifying, with consumer-funded avenues such as virtual gifting, live commerce, and subscriptions gaining traction.
- Brands are expected to scale up their investments in creator marketing by 1.5 to 3 times in the coming years, signalling a pivotal shift in marketing and commerce driven by the digital creator ecosystem.
The BCG report will be officially released during WAVES 2025 in Mumbai tomorrow. Discussions at the ongoing mega event WAVES 2025 on the emerging contours of AI, Social Media, AVGC Sector and Films reflect India’s expanding footprint in the Digital Media sphere.
