Top 10 most-watched videos on YouTube globally as of 2024

Source: Forbes

Ever since 2010, the most-watched videos on YouTube have been music videos, as it’s an understatement that music listeners give the highest engagement on the platform.

With a masterful combination of the elements of traditional guitar, reggaeton, Latin, and Caribbean music with mainstream pop influences, Despacito, a Spanish-language hit released in 2017 by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee, has risen as the second most-viewed video on YouTube with 8.56 billion views.

Notable songs like See You Again by Wiz Khalifa paid tribute to friendships and memories, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, and Gangnam Style by PSY have not only made a significant mark on the music industry but also achieved remarkable popularity, becoming some of the most-watched videos on YouTube.

Notably, the popular Korean artist Psy’s Gangnam Style music video has been at the top spot for the longest, i.e., 4.6 years, and currently ranks tenth in the list with 5.31 billion views.

However, in the early 2010s, nursery rhymes and children’s videos gained significant popularity, driven by the increasing accessibility of digital content for young audiences.

Parents began to seek engaging and educational material for their children online, and by around 2014, videos featuring classic nursery rhymes, such as Baby Shark Dance created by Pinkfong, began to dominate viewership on YouTube and became some of the most-watched children’s content.

Baby Shark Dance, a South Korean video poem, has become the highest-watched video on YouTube with 15.17 billion views. Created by Pinkfong, the video is popular among kids and youngsters due to its memorable lyrics and infectious music, making it a crowd-pleaser.

The combination of catchy tunes, colourful animations, and interactive elements made these videos appealing to both children and parents leading it to become the most viewed video on YouTube.

It surpassed Luis Fonsi’s Despacito in November 2020, and by January 2022, it was the first YouTube video to reach 10 billion views, marking a significant moment in YouTube history, as it not only became the most-viewed children’s music video but also the most-watched video overall on the platform.

Other notable children’s rhymes like Johny Johny Yes Papa, Bath Song, and Wheels on the Bus have also featured in the rankings.