Five years ago, "content creator" in most of Asia meant a handful of famous YouTubers and a lot of hobbyists. That has changed fast. Governments now count creators in their official statistics, tax offices have written rules for them, and payment apps have made it normal to send a creator a small amount of money from a phone in a few seconds.
This report pulls together the most recent public figures we could verify for six markets. Every number links to its source, and the full list is at the bottom of the page. Where a figure is widely repeated but we could not confirm it, we left it out.
The regional picture
The e-Conomy SEA 2025 report from Google, Temasek and Bain puts Southeast Asia's digital economy on course to pass US$300 billion in sales in 2025, growing about 15% a year. Two details in it matter for creators. Video commerce, where people buy after watching a creator, is now about a quarter of all e-commerce sales in the region. And more than 60% of all payments in Southeast Asia are digital.
TikTok Shop shows the same shift. According to Momentum Works, its Southeast Asian sales doubled to US$45.6 billion in 2025, about 71% of its worldwide total. Indonesia alone accounted for US$13.1 billion.
Thailand: 3 million influencers and a wave of mid-career creators
Thailand's Ministry of Commerce studied the sector this year. Its trade policy office (TPSO) valued the Thai influencer economy at 45 billion baht in 2024 and counted more than 3 million influencers, The Nation reported in May 2026. It expects 15-20% growth a year through 2029, and TikTok accounts for 66% of influencer marketing activity.
The more interesting change is who is joining. Suvita Charanwong, chief executive of the influencer agency Tellscore, told The Nation that creators aged 45-50 have risen sharply over the past two years, many of them after losing a job. Her words: "The first profession they turn to is content creation."
Paying a creator is easy in Thailand. The Bank of Thailand counted more than 90 million PromptPay registrations and more than 74 million transactions a day in mid-2025, per The Nation, in a country of about 72 million people.
Vietnam: creators move into selling, and the law catches up
An Accenture study reported by Viet Nam News estimates that content creators drove about US$65 billion of commerce in Vietnam in 2025, rising to US$95 billion by 2030. On TikTok Shop, the number of creators selling grew 140% in a year, far faster than the number of shops (42%).
Payments moved just as quickly. In the first 9 months of 2025, QR code payments rose 61.6% by volume and 150.7% by value, according to the State Bank of Vietnam.
Vietnam has also written the most creator-specific rules in the region:
- Since 1 July 2025, platforms withhold VAT and personal income tax on each sale made by individual sellers (Decree 117/2025, EY summary).
- The amended Advertising Law, in force since 1 January 2026, defines influencers for the first time and requires paid posts to be labelled (VietNamNet).
- Social media accounts must be verified with a Vietnamese phone number or ID under Decree 147, in force since December 2024 (Tilleke & Gibbins).
The Philippines: a creative workforce of 8.7 million
The Philippine Statistics Authority's creative economy accounts put the sector at PHP 2.12 trillion in 2025, 7.6% of GDP, employing 8.71 million people, about 18% of the workforce (BusinessWorld, March 2026). That covers far more than online creators, but digital and interactive work was the fastest-growing slice.
Filipinos are among the most connected social media users anywhere: DataReportal counts 95.8 million social media identities. GCash reported 94 million registered users in 2025 (Philstar).
Tax is not optional. The Bureau of Internal Revenue's Revenue Memorandum Circular 97-2021 names "photo and video sales" and "subscriptions" as taxable income for creators, who are expected to register and keep books.
Indonesia: the biggest creator workforce in the region
Indonesia's Minister of Creative Economy said in December 2024 that the country has 17 million content creators, 8 million of whom do it as their main job, and that 63% of those earn more than the regional minimum wage (Kumparan). That is a ministerial estimate, not a published survey, but no other country in the region claims a figure close to it.
The audience is still growing: social media identities rose by 37 million in a year to 180 million (DataReportal, Digital 2026). Fans pay with e-wallets. In an Ipsos survey from February 2026, 91% of wallet users had used ShopeePay in the previous 3 months, 67% GoPay and 67% DANA.
Marketplaces are due to withhold 0.5% of gross sales as prepaid income tax under PMK 37/2025, with individuals selling up to IDR 500 million a year exempt (KPMG). The start date has been pushed back, so check the current position before you rely on it.
South Korea: more creators, and more women at the top
Korea has the clearest official data. National Tax Service figures released to the National Assembly show 24,673 YouTubers declared income in 2023, up 52% from 2021, with combined income of 1.778 trillion won (Korea Herald, October 2025). Of the 4,011 who earned more than 100 million won, 1,923 were women and 2,088 men, close to an even split.
The money is concentrated, though. The top 10% of solo media creators averaged 344.9 million won in 2022, while the bottom 10% averaged just over 20 million won (Korea Herald). The wider digital creator media industry reached 5.32 trillion won in sales in 2024, up 28.9%, and 84% of the businesses in it have fewer than 5 staff (Ministry of Science and ICT survey, via Asia Economy).
Japan: steady growth from a high base
A survey by the Creator Economy Association and Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting sized Japan's creator economy at JPY 2.09 trillion in 2024, up from JPY 1.36 trillion in 2021, or about 15.5% a year (Creator Economy Association, December 2025).
Japan was slow to give up cash, but that has turned. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry put the cashless share of payments at 58.0% in 2025 on its new method, against a target of 65% by 2030 (METI, March 2026). PayPay alone has more than 70 million registered users (PayPay).
What the six markets have in common
Three patterns repeat across the region:
- Small payments are now easy. PromptPay, GCash, ShopeePay, QR payments in Vietnam and PayPay in Japan mean a buyer can pay a few dollars without a credit card. That is the habit pay-per-post platforms depend on.
- More creators are doing it on the side. Thailand's mid-career creators and Indonesia's estimate that only 8 million of its 17 million creators do it full time point the same way: content is becoming a second income, not only a career for a lucky few.
- Governments are watching. Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia all tax creator income, and Vietnam now regulates influencer advertising. Creators who earn from their audience should expect to declare it.
For Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, see our companion report on the creator economy in Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Selling content on SexySelfies from Asia
SexySelfies is a 21+ platform where members pay per photo or post rather than a monthly subscription. Creators set their own price, keep 80% of each sale, and request payouts through Wise once their balance reaches $50. Before you sign up, check two things: that Wise pays out to banks in your country, and how your country taxes income from members, since the rules above apply to platforms based abroad too.
Free to join. You must be 21 or older and pass ID verification.
Frequently asked questions
Which Asian country has the most content creators?
On the figures available, Indonesia: its Minister of Creative Economy estimated 17 million creators in December 2024. Thailand's Ministry of Commerce counts more than 3 million influencers. Most countries do not publish a single official count.
Do creators in Asia pay tax on payments from their audience?
In several countries, yes. The Philippines taxes photo and video sales and subscriptions under RMC 97-2021, Vietnam has platforms withhold tax on each sale since July 2025, and Indonesia plans marketplace withholding under PMK 37/2025. Rules change often, so confirm with a local tax adviser.
How do people in these countries usually pay creators?
Mostly through e-wallets and QR payments rather than cards: PromptPay in Thailand, QR and mobile money in Vietnam, GCash in the Philippines, ShopeePay, GoPay and DANA in Indonesia, Naver Pay and Kakao Pay in Korea, and PayPay in Japan.
Sources
- Google, Temasek and Bain, e-Conomy SEA 2025, November 2025
- Momentum Works via TNGlobal, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia GMV 2025, February 2026
- The Nation, TPSO influencer economy study, May 2026
- The Nation, Tellscore on creator growth, October 2025
- The Nation, Bank of Thailand PromptPay data, December 2025
- Viet Nam News, Accenture creator commerce study, September 2026
- Viet Nam News, State Bank of Vietnam cashless data, October 2025
- EY, Vietnam Decree 117/2025
- VietNamNet, Amended Advertising Law, December 2025
- Tilleke & Gibbins, Vietnam Decree 147
- BusinessWorld, PSA creative economy accounts, March 2026
- DataReportal, Digital 2026: the Philippines and Digital 2026: Indonesia, November 2025
- Philstar, GCash user figures, October 2026
- PwC Philippines, BIR RMC 97-2021
- Kumparan, Minister of Creative Economy on creator numbers, December 2024
- Ipsos Indonesia, Digital Wallet Research 2026, February 2026
- KPMG, Indonesia PMK 37/2025, September 2025
- Korea Herald, YouTuber income data, October 2025, and creator income gap, July 2025
- Asia Economy, 2024 Digital Creator Media Industry Survey (Korean), December 2024
- Creator Economy Association, Japan creator economy survey (Japanese), December 2025
- METI, Cashless payment ratio 2025, March 2026
- PayPay, 70 million registered users, July 2025