Live streams are one of the most engaging content formats. It helps interact with the audience in real-time.
Users also tend to watch live videos 10 to 20 times longer than on-demand videos. Hence, live-streaming videos can potentially enhance brand visibility, consumer engagement, and sales.
In this article, I have compiled the latest facts and figures related to live streaming, its audience, 2024 trends, and other latest statistics.
So what’s the wait for? Let’s explore the potential of live-streaming through numbers.
Live Streaming Statistics 2024 (Top Picks)
- 7.6 billion hours of live content were watched across all platforms in the third quarter of 2023.
- The global live-streaming market is expected to reach $252.76 billion by 2029.
- Live Streaming accounts for 23% of the global viewing time and 17% of all internet traffic.
- As we enter into 2024, a viewer is recorded to spend an average time of 25.4 minutes watching live video per viewing session.
- 41% of internet users have watched the live stream in their lifetime as of 2024.
- 27.6% of internet users worldwide watch live streams weekly as of the beginning of 2024.
- Live videos capture viewers’ attention 10 to 20 times longer than pre-recorded or on-demand content.
- 80% of the users prefer watching live streams to reading blogs.
- 67% of the viewers rate quality as the most crucial factor in live streaming.
- Live streaming increased by 300% between March and August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Live Streaming Market Size
The video streaming market has grown rapidly over the past years and is predicted to grow further in the upcoming years.
This section will provide you with a gist of the live-streaming market and its revenue.
- The live-streaming segment accounts for 63.18% of the video-streaming market.
The segment generated revenue of $57.83 billion in 2022.
the total revenue is expected to grow by 27% between 2023 and 2029, reaching $252.76 billion by the end of the prediction period.
Source: Global News Wire, Maximize market research.
Live Streaming Audience Statistics
In this section, I have covered the latest Statistics about live-streaming audience and their habits.
- Almost 28% of internet users worldwide watch live streams weekly as of 2024.
In recent years, live-streaming content has become one of the most popular types of video content consumed.
However, its popularity decreased slightly in the past few quarters, and its audience share reduced from 30.4% of the internet users in Q3 2021 to just 27.6% of the internet users in Q2 2023.
The following table displays the share of internet users worldwide who watch live-streaming content every week.
| Time | Share of internet users watching live streaming weekly |
|---|---|
| Q2 2023 | 27.6% |
| Q1 2023 | 27.4% |
| Q4 2022 | 28.5% |
| Q3 2022 | 29.7% |
| Q2 2022 | 29.5% |
| Q4 2021 | 30.4% |
| Q3 2021 | 30.1% |
Source: Statista.
- On average, a viewer spends 25.4 minutes watching live video per viewing session.
Live videos usually keep viewers hooked for a longer time than other videos.
Most of the viewers watch live videos for nearly half an hour at a stretch.
Source: Liveryvideo.
Global live stream viewing time is up by 14%.
Asia and the LATAM region witnessed the highest growth in live stream viewing time, with 90% and 70%, respectively.
Even North America witnessed a growth of 5%.
The following table displays the increase in the live-streaming viewing time:
| Region | Increase in live streaming viewing time in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Global | 14% |
| Africa | 22% |
| Asia | 90% |
| Europe | 20% |
| LATAM | 70% |
| North America | 5% |
| Oceania | 26% |
Source: Conviva.
- People spend eight times more time watching live videos than on-demand videos.
Additionally, the users spend 10 to 20 times longer on live videos than on-demand content. This makes live videos a powerful way to deliver interactive content.
Source: Forrester.
- 40% of live stream viewers use their mobiles and computers.
While 60% of younger adults in the United States watch live streams on their television sets.
- 67% of viewers who watched a live stream of an event purchased a ticket to that event for the next time it took place.
- Live Streams get 10% more engagement than pre-recorded content.
- 23.8% of respondents in Datareportal’s survey said the main reason for using social media is to watch live streams.
- 30.4% of users aged between 16 and 64 watch at least one live stream every week.
- 56% of people worldwide claim that “breaking news” is the most frequent form of a live stream they watch.
- 45% of users are willing to pay to watch live streams from their favorite speakers and teams.
Sources: Statista, Influencer Marketing Hub, Startup Bonsai, Tech Jury, Data Reportal, Vimeo.
Live Streaming Platform Statistics
This section includes the latest facts and figures about the platforms used for live streaming.
- 7.6 billion hours of live content was watched across all platforms in Q3 of 2023.
Twitch leads the race in the live stream viewerships.
Twitch attracted 53% of the esports audience in the quarter, and YouTube gaming attracted 40%. This led to 12 million additional hours watched in this quarter.
The remaining 7% was live-streamed on Facebook, AfreecaTV, Kick all, etc.
Source: Stock Titan.
- YouTube is the most popular live-streaming platform worldwide.
52% of the live stream viewers prefer YouTube to watch live streams.
Facebook is the second most popular livestream platform, with 42.6% of the live-streaming audience.
Instagram and TikTok follow Facebook closely, with 33.4% of the live-streaming audience preferring them.
Source: eMarketer.
- 23.7% of the social media users watch live content as of 2023.
This equals 1.17 billion social media users worldwide as of 2023.
Source: small business bonfire.
- Twitch is one of the biggest live-streaming platforms, with 31 million daily active users.
Twitch users watch atleast 71 million hours of content each day. The platform has 7 million content creators who stream each month.
The majority of Twitch users are between the age group of 20 to 39.
Here is a table showing the Age Distribution of Twitch users:
| Age Group | Percentage of Twitch users in the age group |
|---|---|
| 18-19 years | 6% |
| 20-29 years | 34% |
| 30-39 years | 34% |
| 40-49 years | 17% |
| 50-59 years | 8% |
| 60-64 years | 1% |
63% of Twitch users are males, while 37% are females as of 2023.
Source: Statista.
What are Viewers Expecting in a Live Stream?
Live stream viewers have different tastes and preferences, however, they have common expectations about the basic requirements.
If you are a business owner or a livestream broadcaster, the following stats will help you understand your audience’s expectations.
- 67% of the audience claim that video quality is the most important factor while watching a live stream.
50% of users leave a live stream in 90 seconds or less if it has low-quality output.
People also leave when the live stream is taking time to start. Statistics say that every 6-second delay in the start results in a 6% viewer bounce.
Some of the most important factors that the audience seeks during a live stream:
- Video Quality.
- Audio Quality.
- Lighting Conditions.
- Engagement skills of the streamer.
- Quality of the content.
- 85% of users want to see more videos from their favorite brands and businesses.
Sources: Uscreen, Vimeo, Neil Patel, Influencer Marketing Hub.
Live Streaming Statistics for Businesses and Marketers
In this section, I have included data about how businesses and marketers can use live streaming to their advantage.
- 80% of people prefer watching a live stream to reading a blog.
Additionally, 82% of consumers prefer to engage with the brand on a live stream rather than through social media posts.
Source: LiveStream
- Live Stream Shopping Events are anticipated to drive $25 billion in sales by the end of 2023.
Popular Streamers play a great role in increased spending of online shoppers on the live stream shopping events.
Besides, 64% of Twitch viewers buy the product their favorite streamer recommends.
- 35% of marketers use live videos to market their products.
This percentage increases by 20% year over year.
At the same time, 28% of marketers are investing more in live streaming.
Source: go-globe.
- 55% of the companies use live videos for their business presentations.
This is because 82% of consumers prefer live streams as brands’ social media updates.
- 54% of consumers would like to see more video content made by their favorite brands.
75% or more millennials believe that live streams have helped them compare products while shopping online.
Gaming and eSports Live Streaming
This section covers facts about gaming and eSports live streaming.
- The gaming live stream market is expected to reach $11.69 billion by the end of 2023.
The market is anticipated to grow at a rate of 9.28% between 2023 and 2028, resulting in a projected market volume of $18.22 billion.
Further, the live stream market is expected to have approximately 1.7 billion users by the end of 2027.
Source: Statista.
Live Commerce Statistics
This section covers the latest statistics about the live-streaming e-commerce market.
- The live stream e-commerce market is anticipated to reach $31.7 billion by the end of 2023.
This is nearly three times larger in size compared to the market value recorded in 2021.
Today, live commerce accounts for 2% of the e-commerce market and 0.3% of the retail market.
The market is projected to reach $67.8 billion by 2026, accounting for more than 5% of the e-commerce market share.
Source: Coresight Research and Bambuser, Retail drive.
- Consumers in the Asia-Pacific region have the highest interest in live commerce.
17% of the region’s online shoppers participate in live commerce sales.
The United Arab Emirates closely follows the Asia-Pacific region, with 16% of the online shoppers participating in live commerce taking place in the region.
Here is a table showing the interest in live stream commerce from online shoppers globally:
| World Region | Percentage of live stream shoppers |
|---|---|
| Asia-Pacific | 17% |
| United Arab Emirates | 16% |
| United States | 14% |
| Latin America | 8% |
| Europe | 5% |
- The live commerce market in China is expected to reach 4.9 trillion yuan by 2023.
TikTok live commerce is expected to have a gross merchandise value of $20 billion in Southeast Asia by the end of 2023.
The GMV(gross merchandise volume) of live commerce in Southeast Asia is growing at a staggering compound rate of 30% a month.
Source: Campaign.
- Consumers in the United States have spent $17 billion on live-stream shopping in 2022.
- 39.7% of US shoppers say that the main reason they shop online is because of the great deals.
At the same time, 38.2% of the shoppers said that they prefer to shop online as they get to explore new products.
Further, 3 in 10 live stream shoppers in the United States said they prefer to shop during the live stream due to the exciting buying experience.
Here is a table showing the leading reasons for US citizens to shop on live streams:
| Reasons to shop on live streams | Percentage of US live stream shoppers |
|---|---|
| For great deals | 39.7% |
| To discover new products | 38.2% |
| To learn more about new products | 36.6% |
| Because of the exciting buying experience | 30.7% |
Sources: Statista.
United States-Specific Live Streaming Statistics
This section highlights the live-streaming habits of consumers in the United States. This data can help marketers and businesses to target audiences accordingly.
- As per Statista, there are 158.2 million livestream viewers in the United States as of 2023.
This number is set to reach 164.6 million by 2026.
- Twitch is the most popular live-streaming platform in the United States.
47% of the US gamers watch live gaming on Twitch.
At the same time, 40% of the gamers preferred to watch live streams on YouTube Gaming.
Here is a table showing the most popular live-streaming platforms in the United States for gamers:
| Platform | Percentage of Live stream viewers |
|---|---|
| Twitch | 47% |
| Youtube Gaming | 40% |
| Facebook Gaming | 16% |
| Discord | 14% |
| Bigo Live | 7% |
| Others | 7% |
| Disco Melee | 5% |
| DLive | 4% |
| HitBox | 4% |
| InstaGib TV | 3% |
| Beam | 3% |
- 42% of the people in the United States have watched livestream content.
That’s nearly half of the residents of the United States.
According to the latest data, 163 million live video viewers are in the United States.
This is a 2.1% increase in the live-streaming audience compared to the previous year. In 2022, 160 million live-streaming audiences were recorded.
Source: Insider Intelligence.
- Breaking News is the most popular category for live streams in the United States and is preferred by 37% of live stream viewers.
Comedy takes up the second place, as 31% of the people in the United States prefer to watch it live.
Here is other top content that is live-streamed by the residents of the United States:
- Breaking News: 37%
- Comedy: 31%
- Videos by Friends and Family: 30%
- Sports Games: 29%
- Local Newscasts: 25%
Sources: Statista.
- Facebook Live is preferred by 45% of US citizens aged between 35 to 54.
YouTube Live is preferred by 35% of people aged between 18 to 34 years.
Here is the breakdown of the United States’ most popular live streaming platforms by age group of users:
| Platforms | 18-34 | 35-54 | Over 55 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facebook Live | 35% | 45% | 21% |
| Youtube Live | 42% | 38% | 20% |
| 39% | 29% | 8% | |
| TikTok | 23% | 18% | 7% |
| Twitch | 31% | 14% | 2% |
Source: Statista.
Trends For Live Streaming in 2023
So, how do things look for live streaming in 2023? Let us take a look at it through facts and figures.
- Live Streaming is expected to grow 15 times in 2023.
- 63% of marketers plan to increase their investments in live videos in the future.
At the same time, 32% of marketers look forward to including Facebook Live in their video marketing strategy.
- Brands are projected to spend over $100 billion on video content by 2023.
- The E-learning video industry will be worth $325 billion by 2025.
Sources: Data Reports, TechJury, Statista, Forbes, Content Marketing Institute.
Fun Statistics About Live Streaming
Let us take a look at some interesting statistics about live streaming in this section.
- The 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony had around 2 billion viewers worldwide, making it the most-viewed livestream event ever.
- CazéTV, with 6.1 million viewers (World Cup 2022 QF live stream), is the most watched live stream in YouTube’s history.
- Netflix continues experimenting with its service.
In 2023, it is experimenting with live streaming. They will be live streaming the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on its YouTube Channel and starting from 2024 on their official platform.
- League Of Legends is the most-watched game on Twitch of all time.
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