YouTube‘s latest annual Culture & Trends report leads with a few insights that are likely unsurprising to anyone who spent time on the platform (or on the internet) at any point in 2025:
- MrBeast is the top-watched creator in the U.S. and most other regions
- Roblox was the talk of the gaming town (especially buzzy UGC titles like Grow a Garden
- Labubus were in
- so was Netflix animation sensation KPop Demon Hunters, leading the charge as not only a most-talked-about topic, but also hitting high on YouTube Music’s charts with tracks like “Soda Pop” and “Golden”
- AI was a common topic, with basically every big tech company–including Google–pouring billions of dollars into it while usage and concerns both soared
- “Brainrot” was a defining word this year (though in the broader scope, it lost to “6-7,” which Dictionary.com named 2025’s official word of the year)
But YouTube’s report also broke down some interesting region-by-region trends, spotlighting groundbreaking creator projects, the evolution of creator/fan connections, on-the-rise niches and formats, and overall just giving us a picture of what it’s like to be a creator right now–no matter where you are in the world.
YouTube says it chose to spotlight broader trends because “the very top of these lists only tells part of the story.”
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“Whether it’s the development of a new youth-driven music genre in Indonesia or live-streamed reality shows in Mexico, each commentary explores the dynamics at play today that have the potential to fuel future top 10 lists for years to come,” it wrote.
Here are some of YouTube’s highlights from around the globe…
UNITED STATES
In the U.S., YouTube spotlighted Druski, who spent much of 2025 producing a variety of MTV-esque, YouTube-first reality series. Some weeks, his episodes were among the most-viewed sponsored content on all of YouTube, raking in millions of views (and presumably a nice chunk of brand revenue). IShowSpeed also got a nod for his athlete guest-starring show Speed Goes Pro.
Also in the glow? The Amazing Digital Circus producer Glitch, which YouTube praised for launching Glitch Direct, a dev update stream that let its legions of dedicated viewers “preview upcoming episodes and series in a conversational, transparent manner,” YouTube wrote. This format was emblematic of creators building their own ways to have a closer connections with fans, it added.
And never out of the spotlight was Technoblade, whose family continues raising money for charity through his channel, which posthumously crossed 20 million subscribers this year. Truly, Technoblade never dies.
KOREA
In Korea, high-tech human content stood in the flow of AI slop. YouTube nodded to creators like MMA fighter Choo Sung-hoon, who had the most subscriber growth in the region this year. Choo “[offered] an unvarnished portrayal of his life. For instance, the room tour video where Choo revealed his messy home exactly as it was, delivered a refreshing shock to viewers and amassed more than 10 million views,” YouTube wrote. The trend he represented? “Unfiltered authenticity.”
Continuing on that theme, YouTube nodded to Anxious Kim Hamzzi, who used AI to make what’s almost a VTuber model, but narrated all the hamster’s actions and stories with her own voice.
“Even in AI-driven content, success stems from compelling narrative and human connection,” YouTube said.
It wasn’t done talking AI: “In an era of hyper-accelerated content production, especially with AI, viewers are increasingly placing a premium on substantial human effort. Go Jae-young is a prominent example, taking on difficult challenges like walking a million steps in 30 days or surviving seven days on an inhabited island,” YouTube said in the report. “His demanding journeys require time and perseverance, leading to deep engagement and strong emotional connection with viewers.”
MEXICO
Move over, Logan Paul vs KSI. In Mexico, “combat as content” was 2025’s theme, YouTube wrote. That’s largely thanks to Ibai, who has over 15 million subscribers and launched much-watched creator boxing competition La Velada del Año in 2021.
“Since then, numerous creator boxing tournaments have emerged and one, in particular, broke through this year,” YouTube said. “New in 2025, Supernova Strikers, organized by mobile carrier Amigo Telcel, brought together top creators such as Alana Flores, Alex Montiel, and Franco Escamilla to compete in the ring, generating a surge of content both before and after each match and garnering over 2 million peak concurrent viewers for this fandom-driven cultural moment.”
Obviously people like MrBeast have seen plenty of success running creator competitions in the U.S., but Mexican audiences are showing up loud and clear to prove that content has appeal in other regions, too.
INDIA
India is one of the largest drivers of internet traffic in the world–and that means a lot of MrBeast viewers live there. As we’ve written before, MrBeast has spent serious production bucks on making sure his content is accessible in as many languages as possible. That effort is paying off in India: YouTube said he’s gained nearly 50 million subscribers this year in that region alone.
On the complete opposite side of things, Indian viewers are really digging non-verbal Shorts. (We’ve also seen those on the rise in countries like Japan, where an entire genre of salarymen are posting about their brutal day jobs, keeping their voices concealed so they can’t be identified by their employers.) Instead of voiced content, Indian creators are using gestures and music to communicate–likely so their videos can appeal to people who speak other languages.
Labubus got their mention in this section as well. The cute/ugly toys that were virtually inescapable this year were spotlit alongside ‘Tung tung tung sahur,’ an Italian Brainrot AI character. Both these phenomenons “were not only social memes, they also became fertile creative fodder for channels like Carry Depie, Ayush More and Wanderers Hub,” YouTube wrote. “These creators integrated the memes into scripted stories, horror satire and modded recreations within Minecraft and Roblox, helping localise the phenomena with Indian sensibilities.”
A couple more noteworthy highlights:
- In France, creators are going IRL. YouTubers Byilhan and Nico Là captivated the country with a “high-stakes, low-fi challenge-a live-streamed 900km walk from Montpellier to Paris” that pulled in “millions of views on YouTube through condensed highlights, and drawing thousands of fans in person along the route,” YouTube wrote.
- In MENA, fandoms are full-throttle. Horror games like Poppy Playtime, anime series like Blue Lock, and soccer were all trending topics–and turned into valuable fodder for creators making content in those niches.
We’ve given you the quick rundown, but YouTube dug even further in its full report, which you can check out here.
