Our Popular Culture Shines in YouTube’s Year-End Lists for the Middle East and North Africa

● YouTube’s annual year-end lists celebrate the top content creators and songs on the platform, including creators and artists from the Middle East and North Africa.

● For the first time, YouTube reveals “Trending Topics” that captured viewers’ interest throughout the year.

● The 2024 list includes creators and artists from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, and Morocco.

Egypt, December 3, 2024 – YouTube has released its annual year-end lists, highlighting the top moments, creators, and songs on the platform in the Middle East and North Africa. For the first time, YouTube also revealed the “Trending Topics” that engaged audiences on the platform, covering news, trends, popular culture, and more.

Javed Aslanov, Head of YouTube for the Middle East and North Africa, emphasized the importance of these annual lists, stating:
“This year’s lists demonstrate YouTube’s role as a platform reflecting key events in the Middle East and North Africa, from news and sports events to the latest video game trends and rising artistic talents. They also showcase the creativity of content creators in telling the region’s most important stories to their audiences using various formats YouTube offers, including Shorts, long-form videos, live streams, and podcasts.”

News and Sports

The ongoing conflicts in the region significantly impacted YouTube’s trending topics list, with Rafah, the Houthis, and South Lebanon being among the most-searched topics on YouTube throughout the year. Meanwhile, Arab athletes stood out in the Olympics, led by Algerian boxer Iman Khelif.

Gaming

Games like EA Sports FC 24, Free Fire MAX, and Poppy Playtime topped YouTube’s trending topics for 2024. Gaming stars such as Abo Flah, BanderitaX, ShongBong, Abo Noo7, and POWR Suhaib held prominent positions among YouTube’s favorite creators, reflecting the growing popularity of gaming content and creators. According to YouTube Culture and Trends, videos related to EA Sports FC 24 garnered over 950 million views in the Middle East and North Africa during 2024.

YouTube’s Year-End Lists for 2024

Trending Topics

• EA Sports FC 24
• Free Fire MAX
• El Shami
• Rafah
• The Houthis
• South Lebanon
• Asuka Makeup Challenge
• Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3
• Iman Khelif
• Qisma W Naseeb

Favorite Content Creators

1. Abo Flah: A Kuwaiti gaming creator who continues to top YouTube’s favorite creators list for the fourth consecutive year, with over 43 million subscribers and more than 6.5 billion views.
2. Majd Al Zaqout: A Syrian artist and lifestyle creator based in the UAE, with over 2.2 billion views, including his most popular Shorts video with over 47 million views.
3. Banderita: A Saudi gaming creator attracting audiences across the Middle East and North Africa with his authentic style, gaining over 5.4 billion views and 18.1 million subscribers.
4. Abo Noo7: A Saudi gaming creator making his second consecutive appearance on the trending creators list.
5. Shawar: An Egyptian content creator engaging over 13.1 million subscribers with his humorous style. His top three Shorts videos alone garnered over 383 million views.
6. ShongxBong: A gaming content powerhouse with billions of views, known for his unique playstyle.
7. Al Qaysar: An Egyptian comedy creator combining long-form videos, live streams, and Shorts, achieving over 7 billion views.
8. Abu Rani: A Palestinian vlogger capturing the attention of over 3 million subscribers with his daily life content.
9. POWR Suhaib: A Palestinian gaming creator based in Saudi Arabia, known in the gaming scene with over 7.3 million subscribers.
10. Al Khal Mehdi: A Lebanese creator whose short comedy videos gained more than 678 million views.