Two-thirds of India's 4.12M creators now come from non-metros, but monetisation lags
ISB-HashFame report finds India's creator base ballooned from 0.96M in 2020 to 4.12M in 2025, with 66% based outside metros and Hindi anchoring 42% of the pool. Yet monetisation is thin—most non-metro creators complete just one paid brand campaign a year, signalling untapped regional-language influencer marketing headroom.
What happened
ISB-HashFame report finds two-thirds of India's 4.12M creators are now non-metro, but monetisation lags—most complete just one paid brand campaign yearly.
Key facts
- 66% non-metro creators
- 4.12M creators in 2025 vs 0.96M in 2020
- 408,000 non-metro campaign creators
- engagement 7.2%
- 42,000 annual brand campaigns
- Hindi 42% of base
Why this matters
Consider acquiring regional-language creator networks or campaign-management tooling to lock in the 408K underutilised non-metro creators before competitors consolidate the fragmented market.
What to watch
- Average annual paid campaigns per non-metro creator moving above 1
- Platform launches of vernacular monetisation/affiliate features
- Emergence of large vernacular-focused MCNs or funding rounds
- Brand ad-spend shift data toward regional-language creators
- Engagement rate durability as creator base scales past 4.5M
- Retail/D2C brands pilot Hindi-first micro-influencer campaigns in Tier-2/3 markets to test CAC vs metro creators
- Build or partner with vernacular creator-discovery and campaign-management tooling
- Lock rate cards early before agency consolidation inflates regional creator pricing
- Test performance-linked (affiliate/commission) payouts to align thin-monetisation creators with sales