Two-thirds of India's creators now come from non-metros: Report

New Delhi: India's creator economy is becoming increasingly decentralised, with nearly two-thirds of creators now based in non-metro markets. Yet most undertake only one paid brand campaign annually, highlighting the gap between participation and sustainable income, according to a report by the Indian School of Business (ISB) and creator marketing platform HashFame released on Tuesday.

The report, Understanding the Canvas of India's Creator Economy, found that India's creator base has expanded more than fourfold over the past five years—from about 0.96 million in 2020 to 4.12 million in 2025.

Non-metro creators now account for 66% of the total creator pool, up from less than half five years ago, with their numbers growing 6.4 times compared with 2.6 times in metro markets.


However, monetisation has failed to keep pace with participation. Although the number of non-metro creators participating in brand campaigns rose from around 38,000 in 2020 to more than 408,000 in 2025, the report found that most creators still complete only a single paid campaign each year.

The economics remain modest. A nano creator with 1,000-10,000 followers who completes two paid campaigns earns roughly 29% of the average rural salaried wage and about 20% of the average urban salaried wage.

Only a micro creator with 10,000-100,000 followers undertaking five campaigns annually comes close to matching full-time salaried income benchmarks, underscoring the need for repeat brand partnerships.

"India's creator economy is no longer defined by whether people can become creators. That transition is already underway," said Madhu Viswanathan, associate professor of marketing and executive director, Srini Raju Centre for IT and the Networked Economy (SRITNE) at ISB. "The more important challenge now is enabling creators to build sustainable businesses."

The report also found that audience engagement has strengthened despite the rapid expansion in creator numbers. Average engagement rates, measured as the ratio of median likes plus median comments to followers across the last 30 posts per creator, climbed from 1.8% in 2020 to 7.2% in 2025, while annual brand campaigns tripled from around 14,000 to 42,000 and average campaign spending increased 3.6-fold, indicating growing confidence among marketers in creator-led advertising.

Hindi creators account for 42% of India's creator base, but creators producing content in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati, Bhojpuri and other regional languages collectively outnumber them. The report identified several regional language ecosystems where creator participation has outpaced brand spending, signalling untapped opportunities for advertisers.

"Businesses increasingly need to think beyond one-off influencer campaigns and build long-term partnerships with creators who have earned trust within their communities," said Anirudh Sridharan, co-founder of HashFame, adding that the opportunity now lies in helping creators build sustainable businesses rather than merely expanding the creator base.

Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra together account for nearly a quarter of India's creators, while Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat produce disproportionately high numbers relative to their population, reflecting the widening geographic spread of the ecosystem.

The report is based on primary data from the Qoruz Creator Intelligence Platform covering creator and brand campaign activity between 2020 and 2025, supplemented by secondary data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy's Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (May-June 2025), the Periodic Labour Force Survey (2023-24 Q4), BSNL 4G district coverage data and the Census of India.