YouTube, the streaming service owned by tech giant Google, has raised the price of its YouTube Premium service by 54% in Nigeria.Nigeria.
The ad-free service, which previously cost N1,100 for the individual plan, will now be priced at N1,700. The family plan has seen an even steeper increase, rising by over 64%, from N1,700 to N2,800.
In an email sent to premium subscribers in Nigeria on April 4, 2025, YouTube stated: “To continue delivering great service and features, we’re increasing your price to N1,700.00/month.
“We don’t make these decisions lightly, but this update will allow us to continue to improve YouTube Premium and support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube.”
The price adjustment is expected to take effect from the users’ next billing cycle.
The price hike is not limited to Nigeria. YouTube has also raised its service prices in South Africa.
From the middle of the year, the individual plan for YouTube Premium will cost R81.99 per month, while the family plan will be priced at R149.99 per month.
Subscribers to YouTube Music will see a slight increase in their monthly fee, from R59.99 to R64.99.
Some subscribers in the United States, who had been paying $7.99 per month for YouTube Premium as part of its early 2014 rollout, have also experienced their first price increase in a decade.
YouTube is primarily a free video-streaming service, but its paid product, YouTube Premium, offers subscribers an ad-free experience, along with background play features.
In February 2024, YouTube announced it had reached 100 million paid users across both YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.
This milestone reflects a significant increase in subscriptions, with over 20 million new users signing up in 2023, following the 80 million paid users reported in November 2022.
Google first launched YouTube Music in 2015, and at that time, the platform offered a $9.99 per month Red subscription, which provided ad-free viewing along with access to Play Music. In 2018, the Red subscription was rebranded as YouTube Premium.
Over the past year, YouTube has improved the Premium playback experience, including the ability to continue watching YouTube across different devices, such as smart TVs and tablets, and introduced an enhanced version of 1080p HD.
The company has also experimented with new generative AI features that Premium users have been among the first to try. Additionally, YouTube introduced the Samples tab for discovering new music and launched a customised radio-building experience, while also bringing podcasts to YouTube Music.