How Big Is Influencer Marketing in India? Three Estimates Compared (2026)

How Big Is Influencer Marketing in India? Three Estimates Compared (2026)

By Ashok Sachdev, Founder of JustShoot · Published 7 October 2026 · Sources read 7 October 2026

Short answer: There is no official number. Three published estimates put India's influencer marketing market at ₹2,344 crore (EY, for 2024), ₹3,600 crore (WPP Media's Goat Agency with Kantar, for 2024) and about ₹3,500 crore (influencer.in, for 2025). All three expect fast growth: EY projects ₹3,375 crore by 2026 at an 18% CAGR, and the other two each project 25% growth in 2025. For the same year, 2024, the highest estimate is about 54% above the lowest.

That gap is the useful part. Nobody can count Indian influencer spend directly, because much of it is paid creator-to-brand, in cash or in products, and never reported. Each firm builds its number a different way. If you quote one, quote its source and its year.

The three estimates side by side

Two things stand out. First, EY's figure for 2026 (₹3,375 crore) is already below what the other two firms say the market was worth in 2024 or 2025. Second, the two later reports agree with each other within about 3%, but they do not measure the same year.

If you apply the Goat–Kantar 25% to its own ₹3,600 crore, 2025 comes to about ₹4,500 crore. That is our arithmetic on their published growth rate, and press coverage of the report gave the same figure. It is not a measured number.

How each number was built

EY (2024). The report says sizing "has been arrived at using various sources of data, primary research and proprietary EY research", and that "data around monetization is not available, and hence estimates have been used and assumptions made". It ran surveys of marketers and creators from September to October 2023, and states that the responses "have not been verified". EY's series starts at ₹1,500 crore in 2022.

The Goat Agency with Kantar (2025). The Goat Agency is WPP Media's influencer division; Kantar is a research firm. The report draws on Kantar's consumer research in India. Press coverage of the launch (Social Samosa, Medianews4u, WION, June 2025) carries the ₹3,600 crore figure and the 25% growth projection, along with findings such as 72% of brands preferring long-term creator partnerships and 85% of manufacturing brands prioritising content quality over follower counts when picking creators.

influencer.in (2025). influencer.in is an influencer marketing agency. Its playbook surveyed more than 500 creators and 50+ brands, and its footnote says the industry size and growth rate are "based on data from Influencer.in combined with estimates for various brands, including local brands and barter campaigns". That last part matters: it explicitly counts barter (product-for-content) deals, which a survey of marketing budgets can miss.

So the three numbers differ partly because they ask different people, and partly because they decide differently what counts as spend. An agency that runs campaigns sees the deals it runs. A consultancy survey sees what marketers say their budgets are. Neither sees a small brand paying a creator over UPI.

What the same reports say about brands

The reports agree more on direction than on size:

• EY: influencer marketing was part of three out of four brand strategies among the marketers it surveyed. Automobile, e-commerce and FMCG were expected to increase their spending the most.
• influencer.in: 85% of surveyed brands call influencer marketing a core part of their marketing mix. 70% increased or maintained their influencer budgets in 2025 compared with 2024. 83% track return on investment with custom links, coupon codes and affiliate dashboards. The majority of the brands it surveyed spend less than ₹1 crore a year on influencer marketing.
• Goat–Kantar: 95% of brands said they favour macro influencers, citing content control and brand safety, while niche micro-influencers are gaining ground in categories like automotive and consumer durables.

The last two points pull in different directions, which is a reminder that each survey reflects its own panel of brands.

What the reports say about creators

• EY: 77% of influencers reported income growth over the previous two years, and 86% expected more than a 10% increase over the next two. EY's report also cites a figure that 12% of Indian influencers earn between ₹1 lakh and ₹10 lakh.
• influencer.in: 86% of creators surveyed said they now work with brands every month. One in three earns from more than three sources: brand deals, affiliate, workshops and digital products. In its creator panel, 100% used Instagram and 58% used YouTube — a sign that this panel leans towards Instagram, not a measure of the whole market.

What this means for a YouTube creator in India

The money is real, but it is not evenly spread. A ₹3,500 crore market sounds large. Spread across India's creators, most of it goes to a small top tier, and most brands surveyed by influencer.in spend under ₹1 crore a year in total.

Brands are measuring. When 83% of surveyed brands track coupons and links, a sponsor will judge your integration by what it sells, not only by views. A short, specific mention that fits the video earns more renewals than a long read-out. Our guide to writing a sponsorship pitch and integration script covers the pitch, and how to disclose paid promotion under ASCI rules covers the label every paid integration needs.

Sponsorship sits on top of ad revenue, not instead of it. Brands look at your views and your audience before they pay. For a realistic monthly ad-revenue figure by niche, with Shorts and long-form separated, use the free YouTube income calculator. For the full earnings picture, see how much Indian YouTubers earn, and for the size of the wider creator economy, YouTube India's creator economy in numbers.

How to quote these numbers

• Give the source and year every time: "₹3,600 crore in 2024 (Goat Agency–Kantar, June 2025)".
• Do not mix them. EY's 2026 projection and influencer.in's 2025 estimate come from different methods; putting them on one growth line produces a fall that never happened.
• Say "estimate". None of the three is an audited figure, and two of the three come from firms that sell influencer campaigns.

Where JustShoot fits

Sponsors pay for videos people finish watching. JustShoot runs the pre-production pipeline — research and fact-check, script, storyboard, thumbnail brief, SEO package and shorts — in your channel's own voice, in 11 languages, so the sponsor segment sits inside a script that holds attention.

Pricing is per script: Trial ₹0 (7 days, 2 scripts lifetime, no card) · Starter ₹499/mo (3 scripts) · Creator ₹999/mo (7 scripts, most popular) · Pro ₹1999/mo (15 scripts) · Studio custom. No rollover, GST included, monthly only. Details on the pricing page.

FAQ

What is the size of the influencer marketing market in India? There is no official figure. EY estimated ₹2,344 crore for 2024 (published March 2024), WPP Media's Goat Agency with Kantar estimated ₹3,600 crore for 2024 (June 2025), and influencer.in estimated about ₹3,500 crore for 2025 (December 2025).

How fast is influencer marketing growing in India? All three sources expect fast growth. EY projects an 18% CAGR to ₹3,375 crore by 2026. Goat–Kantar and influencer.in each project 25% growth in 2025.

Why do the estimates differ so much? Each firm uses a different method. EY combines surveys of marketers and creators with its own assumptions, because monetization data is not available. influencer.in uses its own campaign data plus estimates for local brands and barter deals. The Goat Agency, an agency itself, worked with Kantar's research. None of them can see private creator-to-brand payments directly.

How much do brands in India spend on influencer marketing? Among the 50+ brands influencer.in surveyed, the majority spend less than ₹1 crore a year on influencer marketing, and 70% increased or kept their budgets in 2025. EY found influencer marketing in three out of four brand strategies.

Which industries spend most on influencers in India? EY's marketer survey expected automobile, e-commerce and FMCG to increase influencer spending the most. Goat–Kantar notes micro-influencers gaining ground in automotive and consumer durables.

Sources, read 7 October 2026. EY with Collective Artists Network, State of influencer marketing in India (PDF, March 2024; surveys September–October 2023). The Goat Agency (WPP Media) with Kantar, India Influencer Marketing Report 2025, as reported by Social Samosa, Medianews4u and WION (June 2025), and WPP Media's release Influencing with integrity. influencer.in, Influencer Marketing Playbook 2025 (PDF, December 2025). The ₹4,500 crore and 54% figures are our arithmetic on the published numbers.