Influencer Marketing Statistics: What the Latest Numbers Mean for 2027

October 3, 2026

Influencer marketing is one of the fastest-growing parts of the media market. US creator ad spend was estimated at 37 billion dollars in 2025 and is forecast to reach 44 billion dollars the following year (IAB). Globally, Influencer Marketing Hub puts the influencer marketing market at around 32.55 billion dollars in 2025. Most brands plan to spend more, creator content increasingly powers paid media, and in Sweden 43 percent of the population follows influencers (Mediemyndigheten).

Statistics about influencer marketing are everywhere, but many are recycled without a source. We have gathered the numbers we consider most useful for brands – each one taken from a named report – and explained what they mean in practice.

What do the numbers mean for 2027?

Most of the statistics below describe the market today. These are the published forecasts and decided changes that point towards 2027:

Spend keeps growing. EMARKETER forecasts that US influencer marketing spend will reach 13.7 billion dollars in 2027, and Goldman Sachs Research has estimated that the total creator economy could approach 480 billion dollars by 2027.
Social commerce keeps growing. EMARKETER forecasts US social commerce sales of nearly 119 billion dollars in 2027, with TikTok Shop expected to account for nearly a quarter (Retail Dive, 2025).
Returns improve – but measurement is fragmented. 48 percent of brands report a return of 3x or more, yet no single measurement method is preferred by more than 19 percent of brands (CreatorIQ, State of Creator Marketing).
New rules take effect. The final deferred transparency requirements of the EU AI Act apply from 2 February 2027, and the European Commission plans to propose a Digital Fairness Act – expected to cover influencer marketing – before 2027.

Taken together: budgets and expectations are rising, so the brands that set clear goals, measure consistently and label correctly will be best placed in 2027.

How big is the influencer marketing industry?

37 billion dollars: estimated US creator economy ad spend in 2025, up 26 percent year over year and growing about four times faster than the total media industry (IAB, 2025).
44 billion dollars: IAB’s latest annual forecast for US creator ad spend, up from 37 billion dollars in 2025.
32.55 billion dollars: Influencer Marketing Hub’s estimate of the global influencer marketing market in 2025.
480 billion dollars: Goldman Sachs Research’s estimate of what the total creator economy could approach by 2027, up from about 250 billion dollars in 2023.
About 70 percent: the share of creator revenue that comes from brand deals, according to the same Goldman Sachs research.

The figures differ because they measure different things – US ad spend, global influencer marketing or the entire creator economy including subscriptions and platform payouts. The direction, however, is the same in every source: strong growth.

Are brands increasing their influencer budgets?

87 percent of respondents expect their influencer marketing budgets to increase, and 72 percent expect increases of 50 percent or more (Influencer Marketing Hub, Benchmark Report).
4.8 million dollars: average annual creator marketing investment, up 33 percent year over year; 66 percent of organisations increased investment (CreatorIQ, State of Creator Marketing).
83 percent of marketing leaders plan to increase influencer budgets in the next six to twelve months (Sprout Social).
62 percent of enterprise marketers are increasing their influencer budgets (Linqia, State of Influencer Marketing).
48 percent of US ad buyers consider creators a “must buy” channel (IAB, 2025).

An important detail: according to CreatorIQ’s latest State of Creator Marketing report, 52 percent of the brands with growing creator budgets funded the increase from paid media or advertising budgets, while 38 percent used net-new money. Influencer marketing is not just getting extra money – it is taking share from other media.

What ROI does influencer marketing deliver?

48 percent of brands report a return of three times their investment or more, up from 37 percent the year before (CreatorIQ, State of Creator Marketing).
77 percent of brands say they are confident in their ability to measure creator marketing’s business impact (CreatorIQ, State of Creator Marketing).
79 percent of enterprise marketers still struggle to measure ROI, and 48 percent cite attribution as their biggest gap (Linqia).
40 percent of US buyers name overall ROI as the primary KPI for creator campaigns (IAB, 2025).
65.9 percent of marketers expect influencer activity to pay back within one month (Influencer Marketing Hub, Benchmark Report).
85 percent of social media marketers rate influencer marketing as effective (HubSpot, 2025 research).

The numbers show a gap: confidence in results is growing, but many still lack robust measurement. Setting goals and tracking before launch is what separates the brands that can prove ROI from those that cannot.

How is creator content used in paid media?

44 percent of brands’ paid media creative is creator content on average (CreatorIQ, Creator-Powered Funnel).
77 percent of paid media marketers say creator content outperforms traditional branded ads, leading on click-through rate, conversion rate and CPM efficiency (CreatorIQ, Creator-Powered Funnel).
100 percent of surveyed enterprise marketers repurpose influencer content beyond the creator’s own channel, and 81 percent say it outperforms brand-created assets (Linqia).
90 percent of marketers say sponsored influencer content outperforms organic brand content in reach, and 83 percent say it does so in engagement (Sprout Social).

How do consumers respond to influencers?

64 percent of social users say they are willing to buy more from a brand when it partners with an influencer they like – 76 percent among Gen Z (Sprout Social, Q2 2025 Pulse Survey).
47 percent of consumers say authenticity in sponsored content is a top quality they look for in influencers (Sprout Social).
88 percent of people trust recommendations from people they know more than any other channel (Nielsen, Trust in Advertising 2021).
80 percent say they trust the brands they use to do what is right, and 75 percent trust domestic brands versus 60 percent for foreign brands (Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust, 2025).

Which platforms and formats matter most?

85 percent of brands say Instagram is their most commonly used platform for creator marketing (CreatorIQ, 2025).
31 percent of marketers name TikTok as their top platform for influencer investment, with no other platform above 15 percent (Influencer Marketing Hub, Benchmark Report).
83 percent rank long-form video and 80 percent rank short-form video among their three most effective formats (Influencer Marketing Hub, Benchmark Report).
48.6 percent of marketers say short-form video delivers the biggest ROI of any format (HubSpot, State of Marketing).

How are brands using AI in influencer marketing?

95 percent of brand respondents use AI, most often for captions (45 percent), research (44 percent) and editing (41 percent) (CreatorIQ, 2025).
95 percent of US advertisers have concerns about AI in creator marketing, led by loss of human connection (IAB, 2025).
Only 15 percent of large multinational advertisers had tested AI influencers, and 60 percent had no plans to do so (World Federation of Advertisers, 2025).
89 percent of enterprise marketers avoid virtual influencers (Linqia).

What do the numbers say about Sweden?

43 percent of Swedes follow influencers, and among young people the share is 79 percent (Mediemyndigheten, Influencers på den svenska mediemarknaden).
85 percent of Swedes use social media daily. The most used platforms are YouTube (78 percent), Facebook (71 percent) and Instagram (65 percent) (Internetstiftelsen, Svenskarna och internet 2025).
Among Swedes born 2000–2009, 79 percent use Snapchat daily, 65 percent Instagram, 53 percent TikTok and 48 percent YouTube (Svenskarna och internet 2025).
60 percent of Swedes have seen a fraudulent ad on social media in the past year; among them, 40 percent recognised it because it used celebrities (Svenskarna och internet 2025).
Konsumentverket’s latest report on influencer marketing found continued major shortcomings – the law is only partly followed – and named marketing aimed at children and young people as a supervision priority.

For Swedish brands, the takeaway is that influencer marketing reaches a very broad audience – not only young people – and that platform choice needs to follow the target group. Facebook and Instagram dominate daily use among older Swedes, while Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube dominate among the youngest.

How should you use these statistics?

Statistics are a starting point, not a plan. Global benchmarks tell you where the market is going, but your own goals, audience and creative idea decide what works. At Collabri we combine this kind of data with what we see in our own campaigns – such as Coca-Cola Loves Tacos, which reached over 4.5 million views and 6,300 interactions, and the Fazer Domino launch with over 3.5 million views and 14,000 interactions.

Key takeaways

Creator ad spend is growing roughly four times faster than the media market overall.
Most brands plan to increase budgets, often by moving money from other channels.
Nearly half of brands report a return of three times or more, but measurement is still the main challenge.
Creator content increasingly powers paid media.
In Sweden, 43 percent follow influencers and 85 percent use social media daily.

Frequently asked questions

How big is the influencer marketing market – and how big will it get?

Estimates vary with methodology. The IAB’s latest forecast is 44 billion dollars a year in US creator ad spend, while Influencer Marketing Hub estimated the global influencer marketing market at around 32.55 billion dollars in 2025. Looking ahead, EMARKETER forecasts 13.7 billion dollars in US influencer marketing spend in 2027, and Goldman Sachs Research has estimated that the total creator economy could approach 480 billion dollars by 2027.

What is the average ROI of influencer marketing?

There is no single reliable average. In CreatorIQ’s latest State of Creator Marketing report, 48 percent of brands said they get at least three times their investment back. Your own return depends on goals, creative and how you measure.

How many Swedes follow influencers?

According to Mediemyndigheten, 43 percent of the Swedish population follows influencers, and 79 percent of young people do.

Where do the most reliable influencer marketing statistics come from?

Look for named reports with a described method, such as those from the IAB, Influencer Marketing Hub, CreatorIQ, Sprout Social, HubSpot, Nielsen, Edelman and – for Sweden – Internetstiftelsen and Mediemyndigheten.

Want help turning the numbers into a campaign plan for your brand? Contact Collabri at info@collabri.se.

Sources

IAB – Creator Economy Ad Spend to Reach $37 Billion in 2025, Growing 4x Faster than Total Media Industry (2025): https://www.iab.com/news/creator-economy-ad-spend-to-reach-37-billion-in-2025-growing-4x-faster-than-total-media-industry-according-to-iab/
Influencer Marketing Hub – Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026 (2026): https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report/
Influencer Marketing Hub – Influencer Marketing Statistics on Budgets, ROI, AI, and Platforms (2026): https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/
Goldman Sachs – The creator economy could approach half-a-trillion dollars by 2027 (2023): https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/the-creator-economy-could-approach-half-a-trillion-dollars-by-2027
CreatorIQ – State of Creator Marketing 2026–2027 (2026): https://www.creatoriq.com/white-papers/state-of-creator-marketing-trends-2027
CreatorIQ – Creator Marketing Enters the Era of Efficacy (2025): https://www.creatoriq.com/press/releases/creator-marketing-enters-the-era-of-efficacy-brands-demand-scalable-roi-as-creator-budgets-surge-171-creatoriq-report-finds
CreatorIQ – Creator Content Now Powers 44% of Paid Media Creative (2026): https://www.creatoriq.com/press/releases/creator-powered-funnel-report-2026
Linqia – 2026 State of Influencer Marketing (2026): https://www.linqia.com/2026-state-of-influencer-marketing/
Sprout Social – Influencer marketing trends 2026 (2026): https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends/
HubSpot – 2026 State of Marketing (2026): https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/hubspot-blog-marketing-industry-trends-report
Nielsen – Beyond martech: building trust with consumers and engaging where sentiment is high (2021): https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2021/beyond-martech-building-trust-with-consumers-and-engaging-where-sentiment-is-high/
Edelman – 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust, From We to Me (2025): https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2025-06/2025%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Special%20Report%20Brand%20Trust,%20From%20We%20to%20Me_FINAL_0.pdf
World Federation of Advertisers – Major brands wary of using AI influencers (2025): https://wfanet.org/knowledge/item/2025/04/28/major-brands-wary-of-using-ai-influencers
Mediemyndigheten – Influencers på den svenska mediemarknaden (2026): https://mediemyndigheten.se/rapporter-och-analyser/influencers-pa-den-svenska-mediemarknaden/
Internetstiftelsen – Svenskarna och internet 2025: Sociala medier (2025): https://svenskarnaochinternet.se/rapporter/svenskarna-och-internet-2025/sociala-medier/
Internetstiftelsen – Svenskarna och internet 2025: Annonsbedrägerier (2025): https://svenskarnaochinternet.se/rapporter/svenskarna-och-internet-2025/annonsbedragerier/
Konsumentverket – Fortsatt stora brister i marknadsföring som sker genom influencers (2026): https://www.konsumentverket.se/nyhet/fortsatt-stora-brister-i-marknadsforing-som-sker-genom-influencers/
IAB – Digital Ad Revenue Climbs to Nearly $300B as IAB Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary (2026): https://www.iab.com/news/digital-ad-revenue-climbs-to-nearly-300b-as-iab-celebrates-30-year-anniversary/
HubSpot – What will influencer marketing look like in 2025? Expert predictions + new data (2025): https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-work-with-influencers
EMARKETER – Influencer marketing set to surpass $13 billion by 2027 (2025): https://www.emarketer.com/content/influencer-marketing-set-surpass--13-billion-by-2027
Retail Dive – TikTok Shop is driving social commerce growth (2025): https://www.retaildive.com/news/tiktok-shop-drives-social-commerce-growth/807665/
Paul, Weiss – EU Finalises Transparency Rules for AI-Generated Content (2026): https://www.paulweiss.com/insights/client-memos/eu-finalises-transparency-rules-for-ai-generated-content
Covington & Burling (Global Policy Watch) – What to Watch in 2026: Key Developments in EMEA Consumer Protection (2026): https://www.globalpolicywatch.com/2026/02/what-to-watch-in-2026-key-developments-in-emea-consumer-protection/