YouTube drove growth in video consumption in Russia in the first half of 2026

According to Future Lab, as cited by Kommersant, YouTube drove growth in overall video consumption in Russia in the first half of 2026 despite the blocks. The average time spent watching video per day per user rose by 6% and reached 87.7 minutes.

If YouTube is excluded, the overall figure, by contrast, fell by 5%. This means that this platform was what drove growth across the entire video-viewing market.

For comparison, in the first half of 2025, Russians spent an average of 99 minutes a day on YouTube, which was 24% more than a year earlier. At the same time, the Rutube figure fell by 4.7% and came to 41 minutes.

Experts link YouTube’s success to a large amount of high-quality content and better algorithm performance. Alexander Tunik, head of product at the Runet Rating, said that the algorithms of Russian video platforms do not meet user expectations and lag behind the leading foreign platform.

Sources

• Material: t.me