Instagram Rich List 2022: The top-earning Kiwi celeb revealed

Which Kiwi celebrity earns the most money on Instagram? Photo / 123rf

For most of us, Instagram is a place to share snaps of our lives, keep up with what our friends are up to and follow what we’re interested in.

But for some, it’s a form of income - and have you ever wondered just who is making the most money from sponsored Instagram posts?

Even smaller influencers - those with four-figure follower counts - can earn hundreds per sponsored post, while those with over a million followers make thousands a month. The biggest stars make more money with one or two posts than many of us will see in a lifetime.

But an influencer’s Instagram earnings depend not only on their follower count, but on how often they agree to sell their name.

NetCredit crunched the numbers with an algorithm to determine the top Instagram earners in the world - so which Kiwi celeb has topped the list?

It’s none other than UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, 33, who makes $257,017 annually from sponsored posts.

A sponsored post is defined as one that is fully disclosed - labelled “paid partnership”, or containing branded sequences or hashtags like #sponsored and #ad. NetCredit collected the data in May, analysing how many influencers’ posts were labelled and multiplying that number by the amount each celebrity could charge per post.

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is the top Instagram earner in the world, making $85.22m last year from sponsored posts. His rival Lionel Messi follows close behind, earning $71.96m. Ellen DeGeneres is the top Instagram earner in the US, raking in $33.73m a year, while Justin Bieber takes out the title for Canada’s top earner with $4.43m.

Israel Adesanya is the top-earning celebrity on Instagram in New Zealand. Photo / Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC

Musician Dua Lipa is the UK’s highest earner on Instagram, taking home $13m each year. Surprisingly, members of the Kardashian family, who are famed for making money from social media, feature a little lower on the list, with Khloe taking home $10m each year, Kendall $8.9m and Kim $1.9m.

Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth is Australia’s top earner on Instagram, with $2.7m.