For non-celebrities, Instagram is a tool to stay connected, share memories and make friends. But celebrities and influencers can make a living just by posting sponsored content on their carefully-curated feed.
NetCredit created an algorithm to estimate the world's top-paid Instagram influencers from different countries. The loan lending company first built a list of the most-followed stars from each country and used figures from , an Instagram scheduling platform, to estimate the "fee-per-ad" for each country's celebrities.
then counted the number of sponsored posts made by each influencer in 2021 and multiplied this by the known or estimated ad fee.
Stratford, Ont. native and global pop star Justin Bieber is at the top of Canada's list, having earned US$4.43 million off 13 Instagram posts in 2021.
Canada鈥檚 second highest-earning Instagrammer is wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen, who earned US$2.3 million in 2021 off the app.
While Bieber is the top-paid influencer in Canada, his earnings are merely a drop in the bucket in comparison to the rest of the world.
In the U.S., Ellen DeGeneres curated almost one sponsored Instagram post per week, totalling about US$33.73 million per year. This makes her the top-earning influencer in North America, but number four worldwide, according to NetCredit.
The top worldwide are not actors or musicians but instead play the most popular sport worldwide: soccer (or football as they call it).
Cristiano Ronaldo, who hails from Portugal, earned US$85.2 million in 2021 just from Instagram-sponsored ads. The second top earner is Lionel Messi, of Argentina, who earned US$71.96 million.
Cricket star Virat Kohli of India came a distant third to Messi, earning US$36.66 million in 2021 from Instagram content.
Also among the top 10 highest-paid Instagram influencers is Beyonce with US$33.7 million, Jisoo, a Korean singer, with US$18.89 million, Anitta, a Brazilian singer, with US$16 million and Dua Lipa, who is from the U.K, with US$13 million.
"Want to make millions from Instagram ads? It helps to be American or in sports," NetCredit鈥檚 post reads. "Female musicians are the clearest 'demographic' at the top, with Beyonce, Jisoo, Anitta and Dua Lipa raking in a combined US$81,671,561 per year from sponsored posts."
