Creator Economy Grew by 119% in Last Two Years

Adobe reported recently in a survey that 23% of the world's population are creators, meaning that roughly one-quarter of the population contributes to art and creativity.

Adobe's research characterizes a creator as an adult over the age of 18 who engages in creative pursuits, such as photography or NFT development, and shares and promotes their work online. Additionally, they are committed to producing material at least monthly in an effort to expand their social presence.

The study, which Adobe calls the most thorough examination of the creator economy to date, showed that 42% of creators are millennials, while only 14% are from Generation Z. In fact, the average age of creators is forty years old.

The creative community is also significantly male-dominated, with 52% of its members being men. The United States, Brazil, and Germany have among the largest creator populations.
On average, creators engage in three mediums, and the visual arts are the most prevalent, with photography being the dominant favorite. Over fifty-four percent (54%) of creators engage in photography.

Creative writing is the second most common form of expression, with 34% of creators participating. In contrast, 27% of creators engage in painting and illustration, followed by 25% who are involved in filmmaking.

The research conducted by Adobe also underlines the distinction between a creator and an influencer. In the study, an influencer is defined as a content producer with more than 5,000 followers on their primary social channel who currently generates income from sharing social media material.

Despite their prominence in places like as Brazil, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, influencers make up only 14% of all global creators, according to the data.

However, Adobe discovered that influencers work an average of six hours more each week than typical creators. Moreover, this effort appears to pay off as influencers earn more money.

According to Adobe, 5% of influencers earn in the highest pay groups, earning as much as lawyers, who earn an average of $129k per year, and Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), who earn an average of $110,000 per year.

According to the research, six out of ten creators are employed full-time, and 62% of creators report that their creative work accounts for at least half of their monthly income. 72% of influencers are able to earn at least half of their monthly income from their creative activities.

This is not the first study to demonstrate the unexpected shifts in our online behavior. According to data published by the Pew Research Center, only Generation Z reported a decline in social media usage in recent years.