Global Stock Images & Videos Market Sie, Growth & Demand, Industry Opportunities, Forecast Report 2031

STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET SIZE & SHARE

The global stock images & videos market size was valued at USD 3.50 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 4.75 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 5.22% during the forecast period. The market includes photographs, illustrations, vectors, graphics, stock footage, motion graphics, and other ready-to-use visual content distributed via online platforms and stock agencies, and the demand is significantly growing because of the rising demand for high-quality visual content across several industries, including advertising, media, publishing, and e-commerce.

Platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn need creators to publish visual content regularly, which is likely to support the demand for photographs, vertical videos, backgrounds, transitions, and other creative assets. Moreover, companies such as Shutterstock offer extensive libraries of stock footage and video clips for advertising, social media, corporate communications, and other digital applications, while Getty Images provides creative and editorial photography and video for media organizations and commercial customers. Thus, the expanding social media and short-form video are further supporting the demand for stock visual content.

Moreover, AI is also significantly transforming the stock images and videos industry by improving content discovery, editing, personalization, and asset creation. Major providers are also incorporating AI-powered search, automated tagging, recommendation engines, background editing, and generative capabilities into their platform such as Shutterstock has expanded AI-powered image-generation and search functionality, and Adobe Stock offers generative AI capabilities within its creative ecosystem. Hence, these developments are changing how customers discover and create visual assets while increasing the importance of licensing, copyright, contributor consent, and commercial-use controls.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Content Type: Stock images accounted for the largest market share of around 66% in 2025.
2. Content Model: The microstock segment dominates and shows the highest growth with a CAGR of 5.81% during the forecast period.
3. Licensing Model: The royalty-free segment dominates and holds the largest global stock images & videos market share in 2025.
4. Pricing Model: The subscription segment accounted for the largest share of the global stock images & videos market in 2025.
5. Content Usage: The commercial segment accounted for the largest share of the global stock images & videos market.
6. End-User: In 2025, advertising & marketing accounted for the largest share and is also expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
7. Geography: In 2025, North America dominated the global stock images and videos market with the largest share of around 37%.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS & NEWS IN THE STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET

1. In April 2026, Adobe introduced AI Studio in Adobe Stock, bringing AI-powered tools for improving images and videos and finding suitable music into a single workflow.
2. In April 2026, Adobe expanded GenStudio to deliver an agentic content supply chain connecting enterprise context, brand intelligence, and AI agents across planning, creation, activation, delivery, reporting, and insights workflows.
3. In October 2025, Shutterstock launched its B2B AI Services suite, which is expanding its offering from data licensing to services supporting the development and customization of AI models.

STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET TRENDS

AI Integration Reshaping Stock-Media Search and Content Creation

With the rising demand for high-quality images and videos, the development of AI technologies has witnessed significant growth. These technologies can easily analyze and recognize stock content, which improves the search and discovery of relevant stock visuals based on specific themes, objects, or concepts. Further, significant players in the market also launched or implemented proprietary AI systems; for example, in 2025, Shutterstock launched its AI Search Assistant, allowing users to describe a creative requirement conversationally rather than relying on exact keywords; thus, such developments are likely to support market growth.

OTT Platforms Boosting Demand for Stock Footage

The expansion of streaming libraries is increasing the volume of professionally produced video content that requires supplementary footage. For instance, in 2025, Netflix’s The Electric State, whose production credits list Pond5, Getty Images, British Pathe, CriticalPast, Kinolibrary and Searchworks under the Stock Footage Provided by category. Thus, significant usage of stock and archival footage is likely to accelerate market growth.

STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET DRIVERS

Growth of Digital Creation and Editing Tools

In 2025, Adobe expanded Adobe Express with video editing, B-roll, animation, and on-brand content creation features and reported that Express business customers grew 50% quarter over quarter, indicating wider adoption of tools used to produce marketing and digital content. Thus, expansion of easy-to-use creation tools is increasing the number of users producing visual content, thereby supporting the market growth.

More importantly for stock images, these tools are directly incorporating stock libraries into the creation workflow. Adobe Express provides access to more than 200 million royalty-free Adobe Stock photos, videos, music tracks, and design elements in its Premium plan. Users therefore encounter stock content directly while creating and editing digital assets rather than having to visit a separate stock platform.

Rising Global Internet Penetration Driving Stock-Media Demand

The expanding global online population is increasing the number of digital environments where visual content is required. The International Telecommunication Union estimated that 6.0 billion people, or 74% of the world's population, were using the Internet in 2025. The additional 240 million people coming online expanded the addressable audience for websites, social-media platforms, digital advertising, and other online content that relies heavily on visual assets.

Additionally, expanding Internet access is widening the user base for online creative platforms. In 2026, Adobe Stock stated that its licensed photos and videos are accessible through Creative Cloud and Adobe Express, allowing online businesses and creators to source visual content within their workflows. This expands potential stock-media usage as more users move online.

STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET RESTRAINTS

Copyright Infringement and Breach of Licenses

Copyright infringement directly threatens stock-content monetization because platforms generate revenue by granting customers authorized rights to use protected visual assets. When customers exceed license restrictions, reuse content without authorization, or redistribute purchased assets, the original content owner and platform lose potential licensing revenue. Enforcement therefore becomes necessary to protect the commercial value of stock inventories.

Pricing Pressure from Subscription and Microstock Models

Subscription and microstock models reduce the effective price customers pay for individual stock assets by bundling large content volumes into recurring plans. Adobe offers subscriptions covering 350 or more standard assets per month, shifting purchasing toward high-volume consumption. This reduces the market's reliance on higher-value individual licenses and increases pressure on average revenue per asset.

The pricing structure also changes customer purchasing behavior. Instead of purchasing individual premium photographs or videos, customers increasingly obtain large libraries through subscriptions and use assets according to project requirements. This increases content consumption but reduces the frequency of high-value transactions, creating downward pressure on monetization across conventional stock photography, illustrations, vectors, and video.

STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY CONTENT TYPE

The global stock images & videos market by content type is segmented into stock images and stock videos. Stock images accounted for the largest market share of around 66% in 2025. The stock images segment is supported by rising digital content creation, expansion of online advertising, increasing social media activity, and greater use of visual content across corporate and commercial communications. Businesses, publishers, marketers, and individual creators use stock images for websites, advertising campaigns, presentations, product pages, editorial publications, social media posts, and other digital applications. Demand for localized, industry-specific, and professionally produced visual assets is further increasing image licensing activity.

North America remains a major market for stock images, supported by the concentration of advertising agencies, publishers, technology companies, and major stock-content platforms. Shutterstock, Getty Images, and Adobe Stock all maintain significant customer and contributor ecosystems in the region.

INSIGHTS BY CONTENT MODEL

Based on the content model, the microstock segment dominates and shows the highest growth with a CAGR of 5.81% during the forecast period. The microstock segment is characterized by high-volume, standardized content covering business, lifestyle, technology, travel, food, nature, and other frequently searched subjects. Platforms such as Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStock, and 123RF provide extensive microstock libraries with subscription and credit-based access. The model is particularly aligned with social media, websites, e-commerce, digital advertising, presentations, and other digital content needs.

This broad usage is further supported by non-exclusive licensing and recurring purchasing, which support the economics of microstock marketplaces by allowing the same contributor-generated asset to be licensed to multiple customers over time. Contributors retain ownership while customers purchase defined usage rights under the applicable license. Further, subscription plans and individual downloads generate revenue from repeated asset purchases, particularly for commonly used photographs, vectors, illustrations, and short video clips.

INSIGHTS BY LICENSING MODEL

Based on the licensing model, the royalty-free segment dominates and holds the largest global stock images & videos market share in 2025. The Royalty-Free (RF) licensing model provides customers with predefined usage rights for stock images and videos after purchasing an applicable license. Customers generally pay through individual asset purchases, credits, or subscriptions and are not charged a separate royalty for each subsequent use permitted under the license. This licensing model covers common commercial applications, including websites, social media, digital advertising, presentations, and marketing materials.

INSIGHTS BY PRICING MODEL

The subscription segment accounted for the largest share of the global stock images & videos market in 2025. Subscription pricing is primarily suited to customers with recurring requirements for stock content, including advertising agencies, digital marketers, publishers, and businesses producing content regularly. Shutterstock offers monthly and annual subscription plans with defined download allowances, while Adobe Stock provides monthly plans covering standard images, vectors, illustrations, templates, and video. This recurring structure provides predictable access to multiple assets during the subscription period.

As digital production requirements expand, subscription models increasingly combine different asset categories within the same plan, reflecting the broader range of content required by customers. Adobe Stock’s current standard plans, for example, provide access to combinations of standard assets, including images, vectors, illustrations, templates, and videos, with higher-priced plans offering larger monthly allowances. This structure encourages customers with continuous content requirements to consolidate their purchases through recurring plans.

INSIGHTS BY CONTENT USAGE

By content usage, the commercial segment accounted for the largest share of the global stock images & videos market. The commercial segment is shifting from traditional offline advertising toward digital-first content production, increasing the frequency with which businesses require ready-to-license visual assets. Stock images and videos are extensively incorporated into social media campaigns, websites, e-commerce listings, display advertising, email marketing, digital banners, branded content, presentations, and corporate communications. The need to develop multiple creative variations across platforms and refresh campaigns regularly continues to support sustained demand for commercial stock content.

INSIGHTS BY END-USER

In 2025, advertising & marketing accounted for the largest share and is also expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The segment's revenue base is supported by the recurring requirement for licensed visual assets across advertising campaigns, social media content, e-commerce promotions, websites, and brand communications. The increasing volume of creative assets required by marketing teams also supports repeated purchases through subscription and transactional licensing models.

This demand is further supported by the need for distinctive, higher-quality imagery where generic visuals do not fit campaign requirements. Adobe Stock separates Standard and Premium content, with Standard images priced at one credit and Premium images at 25 or 50 credits, reflecting differences in visual quality, uniqueness, and production value.

STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

North America

In 2025, North America dominated the global stock images and videos market with the largest share of around 37%. The presence of solid media and advertising companies in the US and Canada supports consistent demand for commercial photography, illustrations, stock footage, B-roll, and digital creative assets across regional markets.

The US remains the primary demand center within North America, supported by extensive digital advertising, streaming, e-commerce, social media, and corporate content production. US advertisers increasingly use visual content across digital campaigns, connected television, websites, and social platforms. The country's large technology and media ecosystem also supports demand for stock footage and specialized commercial imagery, while established creative agencies and publishers contribute to recurring professional content licensing requirements across multiple customer segments.

Europe

The region is the second-largest market, with European entertainment events producing high-volume short-form editorial footage for stock licensing. Moreover, Getty Images' 2025 entertainment archive includes extensive coverage from Cannes Film Festival in France and London-based entertainment events, with individual event pages containing hundreds of licensable video clips; thus, such factors are likely to support market growth.

Germany represents the largest stock images & videos market in Europe, supported by its large corporate sector, strong advertising and media ecosystem, and extensive use of digital content across manufacturing, technology, e-commerce, publishing, and business communications. The country's broad base of enterprises and creative professionals continues to generate demand for licensed photography, illustrations, graphics, and video footage.

APAC

APAC is the fastest-growing region with a CAGR of around 6.48% because of its diverse consumer markets, which creates demand for highly localized commercial imagery. The region also has localized stock-content inventory, with Shutterstock maintaining more than 127,000 stock photos, vectors, and illustrations, alongside stock videos.

India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines are directly incorporated into Adobe Stock's Asia-Pacific contributor ecosystem. Adobe provides dedicated regional Stock contributor interfaces for these markets, indicating an established supply network of local creators. This regional contributor structure is important for producing culturally relevant photography, video, vectors, and illustrations, particularly where global customers require authentic Asian locations, people, festivals, lifestyles, and business environments.

Latin America

The region represents a growing market supported by its increasing demand for locally relevant commercial, advertising, and digital-media content. Brazil remains one of the region's largest sources of stock visual content, supported by its large consumer market, diverse geography, and extensive commercial and editorial activity.

Middle East & Africa

Middle East & Africa has a relatively low market share; however, it is growing at a CAGR of 5.44% during the forecast period. Saudi Arabia represents an important demand center because of its vast tourism industry, which is likely to increase the usage of commercial usable imagery of destinations, attractions, hospitality, cultural experiences, and Saudi consumers. Further, Shutterstock also currently lists more than 103,000 Saudi Arabia tourism stock content.

STOCK IMAGES & VIDEOS MARKET COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

The stock images & videos market is a mature yet continuously evolving industry, encompassing international and regional players such as Shutterstock, Getty Images, Adobe Stock, Artlist, Alamy, Dreamstime, Depositphotos, Storyblocks, and Stocksy, among others hold significant market share because of their broad product portfolios and are implementing various strategies such as technological advancements, M&A, and collaboration with varied retailers to stay competitive in the growing market. For instance, in 2026, Adobe completed its acquisition of Semrush Holdings, adding Semrush’s brand-visibility and search-intelligence capabilities to Adobe’s customer-experience portfolio.