YouTube, the streaming service owned by the search engine giant Google, has increased the price of its YouTube Premium service by 54% in Nigeria.
The ad-free service, which costs N1,100 for the individual plan, is now N1,700. The family plan was increased by over 64% from N1,700 to N2,800.
In an email sent to premium subscribers in Nigeria on April 4, 2025, YouTube wrote:
“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 date.
Prices increased in South Africa
Meanwhile, the price increment was not implemented only in Nigeria. YouTube has also effected changes to the price of its services in South Africa.
From the middle of the year, YouTube Premium will be going up to R81.99 per month for the individual plan and R149.99 per month for the family plan.
- Users who only subscribe to YouTube Music will now pay R64.99 instead of the previous R59.99 per month.
- Some subscribers in the United States who have been paying $7.99 for YouTube Premium for being early adopters of its 2014 rollout, Music Key, a predecessor to YouTube Music, are also experiencing their first price increase in a decade.
What you should know
YouTube is a free video-streaming service, but its paid product, called YouTube Premium, gives subscribers access to ad-free music and videos as well as background play.
In February last year, YouTube, announced it had recorded 100 million paid users across YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.
This shows that the platform recorded over 20 million new subscriptions in 2023, as it had earlier reported 80 million paid users in November 2022.
- Google first launched YouTube Music in 2015 and at that time, YouTube offered a $9.99 per month Red subscription for ad-free viewing that also allowed users to access Play Music. In 2018, the Red subscription was rebranded to YouTube Premium.
- In the past year, YouTube enhanced the Premium playback experience including adding the ability to continue watching YouTube across different devices like smart TVs and tablets, and introduced an enhanced version of 1080p HD.
- The company also experimented with new generative AI features that Premium users were among the first to try. And for listeners, it introduced the Samples tab, a lightning-fast way to discover new music, a completely customized radio-building experience, and brought podcasts to YouTube Music.
