Short answer: Yes, YouTube Shorts are monetized in Pakistan. Pakistan is on YouTube’s official availability list for the YouTube Partner Program, and once your channel is accepted you earn a share of the ads shown between Shorts. To get in through Shorts today you need 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
Key takeaways
- Shorts monetization is available in Pakistan. You join through the YouTube Partner Program, not through a separate Shorts programme.
- Today: 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, or 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months.
- From 1 February 2027: new applicants need 20 million Shorts views in 90 days or 8,000 watch hours in 365 days. Channels already in the program keep their place.
- From the same date, you only earn from the Shorts pool in a month if you kept 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
- The 500 subscriber “early access” tier is not open to Pakistan. Pakistan is missing from that country list.
- You keep 45% of the money allocated to you. YouTube publishes no fixed rate per 1,000 views, so treat every rupee figure you see online with care.
There is one thing most guides have not caught yet. From 1 February 2027 the rules get harder: new channels will need 20 million Shorts views to join, and every channel will need 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days to be paid from Shorts in a given month. I am Muhammad Ismail. I have been earning online since 2010 and run a YouTube channel with 377K subscribers, and I read every YouTube Help page linked below on 10 November 2026 so you get the rules as they are written, not as they are rumoured.
This guide is education, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules change, so check the linked pages before you make decisions.
Is YouTube Shorts monetized in Pakistan?
Yes. YouTube lists the countries where creators can sign up for the Partner Program, and Pakistan is on that list. I checked the list on 10 November 2026. There is no separate “Shorts monetization” switch for a country. If the Partner Program is open in your country and your channel is accepted, Shorts ads are one of the ways you can earn.
What Pakistan does not have is the lower entry tier. In many countries a creator can join at 500 subscribers and unlock fan funding features such as channel memberships and Super Thanks. YouTube calls this the expanded YPP, and it says clearly that if you are not in one of the listed countries, nothing changes for you. Pakistan is not on that list. It is also missing from the country list for channel memberships.
So if a blog or a video tells you that a Pakistani channel can start earning at 500 subscribers, that is not what YouTube says today. Check the Earn tab in YouTube Studio. It shows only what is really open to your channel.
What are the requirements to monetize Shorts in Pakistan today?
According to YouTube Help, a channel becomes eligible for ad revenue in one of two ways:
- 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months, or
- 1,000 subscribers with 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
You only need one of the two. On top of that, the same page lists what every applicant needs:
- Follow the YouTube channel monetization policies.
- Live in a country where the Partner Program is available. Pakistan qualifies.
- No active Community Guidelines strikes on the channel.
- 2-Step Verification turned on for your Google Account.
- Advanced features access on YouTube.
- One active AdSense for YouTube account linked to the channel, created from inside YouTube Studio.
What is a “qualified” Shorts view?
Only public Shorts that appear in the Shorts Feed count. Views on private, unlisted or deleted Shorts do not count, and neither do views that come from ad campaigns or from image posts in the feed. One more detail: since 31 March 2025 the public view counter on a Short goes up every time the Short starts to play. YouTube kept the older, stricter number and now calls it “engaged views”. In its updates log, YouTube says eligibility and earnings are both based on engaged views. So the big number under your Short can be higher than the number that counts for money.
How many views a day is 10 million in 90 days?
This is my own calculation, not a YouTube figure. 10 million views spread over 90 days is about 111,000 views every day. The new 20 million target is about 222,000 views every day. That is a serious number. It usually needs many Shorts doing well at the same time, not one lucky viral video.
What changes on 1 February 2027?
YouTube has published a page called YPP changes. Three parts of it matter for anyone making Shorts in Pakistan.
| Rule | Today | From 1 February 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Join through Shorts | 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days | 1,000 subscribers and 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days (new applicants) |
| Join through long videos | 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months | 1,000 subscribers and 8,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days (new applicants) |
| Earn from the Shorts Creator Pool | Be in the program and accept the Shorts Monetization Module | Also keep 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, checked every month |
| Stay active in the program | YouTube may turn off monetization if you have not uploaded or posted for 6 months | 1,000 watch hours in 365 days, or 1 million Shorts views in 90 days, or 2 long videos or 5 Shorts every 90 days |
| Fan funding entry (500 subscribers) | Not available in Pakistan | No change announced |
1. Joining becomes twice as hard for new channels
In YouTube’s words, entry thresholds for new creators change to 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days, or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, with 1,000 subscribers still required. If you are already in the program, YouTube says your status is not affected.
The practical meaning is simple. If your channel is close to 10 million Shorts views or 4,000 hours, the months before February 2027 matter. Applying under the current numbers is easier than applying under the new ones.
2. A monthly 10 million view rule for Shorts money
This is the change I want every Shorts creator in Pakistan to understand. The Shorts policies page now says that from 1 February 2027, to earn a share of Shorts ad revenue and YouTube Premium revenue for a month, you need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. The 90 days are measured up to the 15th of the month before the month being paid.
A hypothetical example, based on my reading of that sentence: for your March 2027 Shorts earnings, YouTube would look at the 90 days ending on 15 February 2027. If your Shorts had 10 million qualified views in that window, you share in the pool for March. If they had 6 million, you do not.
The good news is in the same announcement. If you miss the threshold, you are not removed from the Partner Program, and your other earnings, including long videos, are not affected. You simply earn nothing from the Shorts pool for that month and can qualify again later.
3. You must accept the updated terms by 31 January 2027
Channels already in the program have to review and accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by 31 January 2027. YouTube says that if you do not, you stop earning from the related features from 1 February until you accept. You are not removed from the program. Open YouTube Studio, look for the terms notice on the dashboard or in the Earn tab, review each module and submit.
There is also one small opening. From the same date, when an advertiser targets an ad at a group of five or fewer channels, eligible creators keep 45% of the net revenue from that ad, on top of the pool.
How does YouTube Shorts money actually reach you?
Shorts do not pay like long videos. On a long video, ads play on your video and you share that money. In the Shorts Feed, ads play between Shorts, so YouTube puts the money in one pot and divides it. The Shorts policies page describes four steps.
- Pool the ad money. Each month, revenue from ads shown between Shorts in the feed is added together.
- Work out the Creator Pool. If a Short has no music, all the revenue linked to its views goes to the Creator Pool. With one music track, half goes to the pool and half pays for music licensing. With two tracks, one third goes to the pool.
- Share the pool by views. Each monetizing creator gets a share based on their share of engaged Shorts views in each country.
- Apply the revenue share. You keep 45% of the amount allocated to you, whether you used music or not.
YouTube gives a hypothetical example to explain it. In one country there are 100 million engaged Shorts views in a month and $100,000 in Shorts ad revenue. Because some Shorts use music, the Creator Pool is $90,000. Your Short has 1 million engaged views, which is 1% of the total, so $900 is allocated to you. You keep 45%, which is $405. Please read that as an illustration of the method only. It is not a rate for Pakistan or for any country.
Notice the words “in each country”. Your share is worked out country by country, from the viewers who watched you there. That is why two channels with the same view count can earn very different amounts.
Shorts do not pay per view. They pay your share of a pool, so who watches you matters as much as how many people watch.
How much can you earn from Shorts in Pakistan?
I will be honest with you: I cannot give you a number, and I do not trust the ones I found. While researching this guide I read Pakistan focused pages that quote a Shorts rate of Rs15 to Rs60 per 1,000 views, and another that quotes Rs8 to Rs150 depending on the niche. None of them links to a source. One even promises a monthly income range. YouTube publishes no fixed rate for any country.
What YouTube does give you is your own data. In YouTube Studio, open Analytics and then the Revenue tab. RPM there is calculated per 1,000 engaged views for Shorts. After one or two full months in the program, your own RPM is the only figure worth planning with.
From the way the pool works, three things decide your result: how many engaged views you get, which countries those viewers are in, and how much advertisers spent on Shorts in those countries that month. You control the first one, and you can influence the second by the topics and language you choose.
How to apply and turn on Shorts earnings, step by step
- Turn on 2-Step Verification on your Google Account and make sure the channel has no active Community Guidelines strike.
- In YouTube Studio, open Earn. If you are not eligible yet, select Get notified and YouTube will email you when you reach a threshold.
- When you are eligible, select Apply Now, then review and accept the base terms.
- Set up an AdSense for YouTube account from inside YouTube Studio, or link your existing active one. Do not create a second account.
- Wait for the review. YouTube says a decision typically takes about one month.
- After approval, go back to Earn and accept the Shorts Monetization Module. This is the step people miss.
Step 6 matters more than it looks. YouTube says Shorts revenue sharing applies only from the date you accept the module. Views your Shorts collected before that date are not paid. So accept it on the same day you are approved.
If your application is rejected, YouTube lets you appeal within 21 days, or you can apply again after 30 days. After a second rejection the wait is 90 days.
Which Shorts do not earn, even on a monetized channel?
Getting into the program does not mean every view is paid. YouTube removes these views before it calculates payments:
- Non-original Shorts: unedited clips from films or TV shows, re-uploads of other creators’ content from YouTube or another platform, and compilations with nothing original added.
- Artificial or fake views, for example from automated click or scroll bots.
- Views of Shorts that do not follow the advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
This is where many Pakistani channels get stuck. Channels built on cricket clips, drama scenes or other people’s TikTok videos can collect millions of views and still be refused, because the reused content policy looks at the channel as a whole. YouTube’s monetization policies also cover what it now calls inauthentic content, meaning repetitive or mass-produced videos, a name it introduced on 15 July 2025. I explain the fix in my guide on how to fix reused content on YouTube.
Length matters too. Vertical or square videos up to three minutes, uploaded on or after 15 October 2024, are treated as Shorts. But YouTube says a Short longer than one minute with an active copyright claim is blocked worldwide and cannot be monetized. Details are on the three-minute Shorts page. If you use music in a longer Short, pick it from the Shorts audio library or the YouTube Audio Library.
How do you get paid in Pakistan?
YouTube pays through AdSense for YouTube. The steps are the same for Shorts money and long video money, because both land in the same balance.
- Address check at $10. When a new AdSense for YouTube account reaches a $10 balance, a PIN card is posted to your address. According to YouTube Help, if you do not verify your address within 4 months, monetization is paused until you do. Write your address exactly as your local post office knows it.
- Payment at $100. For accounts reporting in US dollars, the payment threshold in the AdSense Help table is $100. Below that, the balance rolls over to the next month.
- Payment dates. If your balance reaches the threshold by the end of a month and there is no hold, Google issues the payment between the 21st and the 26th of the following month, as the payment steps page explains.
- One account per person. You can have only one AdSense or AdSense for YouTube account under the same payee name. A duplicate can get monetization switched off.
Every monetizing creator must also submit US tax information to Google, wherever they live. I have a separate step by step guide to the YouTube US tax form from Pakistan. Tax in Pakistan on this income is a different subject and I do not cover it here, so speak to a tax adviser about your own case.
Shorts or long videos: which route should a Pakistani creator pick?
You do not have to choose one forever, but your first target should match your content. Here is how the two routes compare on what YouTube has published.
| Question | Shorts route | Long video route |
|---|---|---|
| Target to join today | 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days | 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months |
| Target for new applicants from 1 February 2027 | 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days | 8,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days |
| Time window | Short. Views older than 90 days drop out | Long. A full year of watch time counts |
| How ad money is shared | Pooled, then 45% of your allocation | Ads on your own video |
| Rule to keep earning each month from February 2027 | 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days | No monthly view minimum announced |
| Good fit for | Daily, fast, high volume content | Tutorials, explainers and searchable topics |
My honest view, as a teacher and not as a promise: if you can post strong Shorts every day, the Shorts route still works, but it now asks you to keep performing every month. If you teach or explain things, long videos give you a steadier base, and Shorts become the way new viewers discover you. Many channels will do best with both. If you are still choosing a topic, my guide to YouTube automation in Pakistan covers niches and workflow, and TubeMind (tubemind.io), a YouTube research tool I built, can help you see which topics are getting views in your niche.
Checklist before you apply
- 1,000 subscribers reached
- 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, or 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months
- Engaged views checked in Analytics, not only the public view counter
- 2-Step Verification on
- No active Community Guidelines strike
- Channel content is original, with your own voice, face, editing or commentary
- No second AdSense account in your name
- Reminder set to accept the Shorts Monetization Module on approval day
- If you are already in the program: updated terms accepted before 31 January 2027
YouTube Shorts monetization FAQ
Do Shorts views and long video watch hours add together?
No. They are two separate routes. YouTube states that watch hours from Shorts viewed in the Shorts Feed do not count towards the 4,000 hour threshold. You need to complete one route fully.
Does adding a song to my Short reduce what I earn?
Not your personal share. Music reduces the size of the overall Creator Pool, because part of that revenue pays for licensing. But YouTube says each creator is allocated 100% of the engaged views on their own Shorts, and the 45% rate is the same with or without music.
My Shorts show ads but I am not in the Partner Program. Am I earning?
No. YouTube can show ads on any content on the platform. Only partners who have accepted the Shorts Monetization Module earn from them. The rest of that revenue goes to music licensing or stays with YouTube.
Will I lose monetization if I stop uploading for a while?
You can. Today YouTube says it may turn off monetization on channels that have not uploaded a video or posted for 6 months or more. From 1 February 2027 a channel counts as active if it has 1,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days, or 1 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, or uploads 2 long videos or 5 Shorts every 90 days. Channels that drop below get a 90 day window to recover.
Shorts can pay a Pakistani creator, but the bar is rising in February 2027, so plan with the real numbers and build on original content. For more ways to earn, start with my guide to online earning in Pakistan, pick up the free playbooks and tools, or send me your question through Ask Ismail.
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