The Creator Economy Is Worth Billions. Is the Caribbean Getting Its Share?

Brands are investing unprecedented amounts of money into the creator economy.

The creator economy itself is even larger.

Goldman Sachs estimates that the global creator economy was worth approximately US$250 billion in 2023 and could approach US$480 billion by 2027. Brand partnerships remain the industry's largest source of revenue, accounting for an estimated 70% of creator earnings.[2]

These figures describe different parts of the market. The IAB measures creator advertising expenditure, while Goldman Sachs estimates the broader creator economy, which also includes platform payouts, subscriptions, merchandise, commerce and other creator-led businesses.

The creator economy has evolved from a niche marketing channel into a mainstream component of the global advertising economy.

The Caribbean Data Gap

How much of that investment reaches Caribbean creators?

Unlike many mature industries, there is no regional database measuring the number of full-time creators, creator earnings, brand partnership spending or platform payouts across the Caribbean. National statistics typically classify parts of the industry under advertising, entertainment, broadcasting, self-employment or copyright-based industries. Digital creators often operate across several of those sectors while appearing fully in none of them.

A Caribbean Development Bank study examining Jamaica highlighted this exact challenge. The report noted that new forms of digital content are becoming increasingly difficult for traditional statistical systems to capture, making it harder to estimate their economic contribution. At the same time, the study found that Jamaica's broader copyright-based industries already contributed 5.9% of GDP and 4.28% of national employment in 2016, well before today's creator economy had reached its current scale.[3]

The lack of official statistics does not mean the market is insignificant. It simply means that measuring it requires a different approach.

Estimating the Caribbean Creator Market

Because no comprehensive statistics currently measure the Caribbean creator economy, FAMA developed a scenario-based methodology to estimate the potential size of the region’s creator-brand market.

For this analysis, FAMA defines the Caribbean as the CARICOM member states together with the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico and selected Caribbean territories. Combined, these jurisdictions represent a working population of approximately 45 million residents, reflecting today’s English-, Spanish-, French- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean creator ecosystem.

The International Telecommunication Union estimates that approximately 75% of people living in Caribbean Small Island Developing States used the internet in 2023. Applying that rate to the working population produces an estimated connected resident audience of roughly 34 million people.[4]

Scenario-Based Advertising Model

WARC projects global advertising expenditure of approximately US$1.30 trillion in 2026, equivalent to roughly US$150 per person worldwide.[5]

FAMA adjusted that global benchmark using two assumptions:

• Caribbean advertising expenditure per resident is approximately 20%–35% of the global per-capita average. This range reflects the region’s generally lower income and advertising intensity, smaller domestic markets, and considerable economic variation across jurisdictions. As a directional benchmark, World Bank data place GDP per capita for its Caribbean small-states grouping at approximately US$19,904 in 2024, supporting the use of a substantial discount from advertising levels driven by larger, wealthier markets. The 20%–35% range should be understood as a sensitivity band rather than a directly observed regional advertising ratio.

• Creator sponsorships and creator-led production account for approximately 2%–3.5% of regional advertising expenditure. This represents a conservative, low-adoption scenario for a creator-marketing sector that remains less developed and less measurable than in larger markets. For context, IAB projects US creator advertising expenditure of US$44 billion in 2026 and reports that 48% of surveyed creator-ad buyers consider creators a “must buy,” confirming that creator advertising has become a significant channel in a mature market. FAMA uses a low-single-digit share for the Caribbean rather than assuming similar market maturity.

The calculation is:

Population×Advertising per capita×Regional Adjustment×Creator Share

At the lower bound:

At the upper bound:

This produces an estimated annual creator-brand market of approximately US$27 million–US$83 million.

Expressed relative to the region’s estimated 34 million connected residents, that range is equivalent to approximately:

or roughly US$0.75–US$2.25 per connected resident annually.

The estimate covers sponsorship fees and creator-led content production. It excludes YouTube advertising revenue, platform incentive programs, subscriptions and memberships, affiliate commissions, merchandise, live events, ticket sales, creator-owned businesses and most income earned by Caribbean creators living outside the region.

As additional regional advertising and creator-payment data become available, these assumptions can be refined and future estimates updated.

The Diaspora Market

The commercial Caribbean creator economy extends well beyond the region's resident population.

According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), approximately 11.5 million people originating from Small Island Developing States were living abroad in 2020, with Caribbean migrants accounting for roughly 86% of that total—approximately 9.9 million people.[6]

Many Caribbean creators based in cities such as New York, Toronto, London and Atlanta continue producing content rooted in Caribbean culture while reaching audiences and advertisers in much larger international markets.

This broader Caribbean creator market almost certainly generates additional commercial activity beyond the regional estimate presented in this report. However, current data cannot reliably distinguish creator residence, cultural identity, audience geography, and campaign origin without risking substantial double counting.

Rather than assigning a speculative dollar value, FAMA recognizes the diaspora creator market as an important area for future research as more comprehensive regional data become available.

Platform Access Shapes the Opportunity

Platform access also influences how much of the creator economy Caribbean creators are able to capture.

YouTube offers one of the most established monetization systems for creators. Eligible participants receive 55% of net Watch Page advertising revenue, 45% of allocated Shorts revenue, and 70% of net revenue generated through memberships and fan-funding features. According to YouTube, the platform paid more than US$100 billion to creators, artists and media companies during the four years preceding 2026.[7]

TikTok presents a different picture. Its Creator Rewards Program is currently available in markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and selected countries across Europe and Asia, but not in Caribbean countries. Caribbean creators may still earn through brand sponsorships, gifts where available, TikTok One opportunities where supported, and off-platform businesses. However, limited access to direct platform monetization means many creators must rely more heavily on brand partnerships to generate income.[8]

These differences matter. Two creators with similar audiences and engagement may have access to very different earning opportunities simply because of where they live or which monetization programs are available in their market. As a result, sponsorships continue to play an especially important role in the Caribbean creator economy.

Beyond Views: Building a Sustainable Creator Economy

Growing the Caribbean creator economy will require more than producing viral content. The region must become better at converting attention into long-term economic value.

Regional brands, including tourism boards, airlines, hotels, telecommunications companies, banks, retailers, food and beverage companies, and entertainment businesses, represent an important source of creator partnerships. As more Caribbean businesses shift advertising budgets toward digital media, creators are well positioned to become an increasingly important part of their marketing strategies.

However, some of the largest commercial opportunities may lie beyond the region. Caribbean creators frequently produce content that resonates with global audiences while maintaining strong cultural connections to the Caribbean. This creates opportunities to work not only with Caribbean companies, but also with international brands seeking to reach Caribbean consumers, diaspora communities, or audiences interested in Caribbean culture. For many creators, sponsorships from North American and European brands may ultimately represent a larger source of revenue than campaigns originating within the Caribbean itself.

Tourism remains one of the clearest sectors for growth. Airlines, hotels, restaurants, festivals and destinations all depend on authentic visual storytelling to reach travelers. Caribbean music, carnival, food, beauty, comedy, cricket and football already attract global audiences, while bilingual and multilingual creators are uniquely positioned to connect English-, Spanish-, French- and Creole-speaking markets.

At the same time, creators can build more resilient businesses by diversifying beyond brand sponsorships. Memberships, merchandise, affiliate marketing, licensing, live experiences and creator-owned businesses can generate more sustainable income while reducing reliance on individual campaigns.

A stronger creator economy will also require better infrastructure. Improvements in contracts, campaign measurement, rights management, cross-border payments and regional creator marketplaces would make it easier for both Caribbean and international brands to discover, evaluate and invest in Caribbean creators at scale. As the ecosystem matures, these foundations can help transform the region from a source of creative talent into a more competitive and measurable creator market.

Conclusion

The Caribbean is not absent from the creator economy. Its creators are already shaping global conversations in music, comedy, beauty, sport, food, travel and culture.

Based on the available evidence and FAMA's scenario-based analysis, annual creator-brand spending reaching Caribbean-based creators is likely measured in the tens of millions of dollars, small relative to the hundreds of billions circulating through the global creator economy.

The Caribbean does not have a shortage of talent. It has a shortage of measurable investment, monetization access and commercial scale.

The US$25 million–US$75 million estimate presented in this report should be viewed as a starting point for understanding the region's creator economy. As more regional data become available, including creator payment data from agencies, platform payout information, creator income surveys and campaign tracking, future estimates can be refined and expanded.

More importantly, the report highlights a broader challenge. The Caribbean creator economy remains difficult to measure because the data simply does not exist in one place. Better measurement will lead to better decisions, for creators seeking opportunities, brands investing in campaigns, agencies managing talent, researchers studying the industry and policymakers supporting the region's growing digital economy.

The creator economy has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of digital media worldwide. The Caribbean has already demonstrated that it can produce creators with global influence. The next challenge is ensuring the region captures a larger share of the economic value those creators generate.

The creator economy is becoming an increasingly important part of the global digital economy. The Caribbean has already proven it can produce creators with global influence. The next step is ensuring the region captures more of the economic value that influence creates. Measuring that progress begins with better data.