Last Updated: 14 july 2025
Mediascope statistics for September 2018 showed that YouTube is the fourth most popular internet project. What is different about the Russian YouTube audience, and what content are Russians interested in?
YouTube users: who are they?
YouTube covers 82% of Russia’s population aged between 18 and 44 years, and this statistics is relevant both for large and small cities. For example, 80% of Muscovites visit YouTube, and almost the same coverage of 78% is found in cities with 100,000 to 400,000 inhabitants.
Most users are aged between 25-34 and 35-44 years, and women outnumber men in almost all segments, except for the group aged between 18 and 24 years.
Economically speaking, YouTube has rather solvent audience: 42% of upper-middle earners and almost 40% of middle earners. Slightly more than 30% of the audience have higher education, while white-collar workers and students make up 15% each group.
If we compare YouTube audience with those of other social networks, we get interesting statistics:
YouTube not only covers the most part of other social networks users but also has a significant percentage of its unique audience.
What do people watch on YouTube?
GfK, CINT and SSI research shows that 30% of users browse YouTube for content that cannot be found anywhere else. YouTube overcomes Facebook, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, ivi.ru, and Channel One in this respect.
- Music: music videos, concerts, compilations of videos of past decades, interviews with popular musicians.
- Education and science: brain training, financial education, cultural studies.
- Games: Let’s Plays (people record and comment on their gaming experience), LEGO videos, cybersport.
- Cooking: healthy eating channels, videos about herbs and spices, video lessons from famous chefs.
A survey showed that 46% of YouTube users are subscribed to channels they find relevant. What is interesting is that 81% of these subscribers are aged between 16 and 24 years.
All kinds of people watch videos on YouTube. It helps not only to brighten up your spare time but also to learn something new, to stay updated, and to meet like-minded people. At the same time, YouTube encourages people to take action. For example, 38% of users browse the web for detailed information about goods and services after watching video ads on YouTube, 28% visit brand websites, and 16% make purchases. YouTube has become a global platform where authors, users, and brands can reach their goals.
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