UK Netflix has half the amount of shows and films than US Netflix, new study finds

Millie Bobby Brown in ‘Stranger Things,’ one of Netflix’s most acclaimed original properties (Credit: Netflix)
Millie Bobby Brown in ‘Stranger Things,’ one of Netflix’s most acclaimed original properties (Credit: Netflix)

Streaming platform Netflix may have spread to much of the globe, but it’s notoriously secretive about viewing figures and other related information.

Now, a new internet tool from BestVPN.com compares just how the service measures from country to country, in terms of monthly subscription fees and the size of the available viewing library.

The tool is called Notflix, and its statistics show just how much Netflix service varies in different territories – and some of the figures may take you by surprise.

Unsurprisingly, the largest Netflix viewing library is available in its home territory of the US; bigger than the UK library by a whopping 48%. Even so, UK subscribers pay only $0.26 (roughly 20p) less per month than US subscribers.

However, the UK fares well in comparison with others. Egypt, Turkey and Hong Kong each pay roughly $2 (£1.52) more each month for Netflix than the US, but with access to a fraction of the library: 12% in Turkey, 11% in Egypt, and just 9.5% in Hong Kong.

Canada gets the second largest Netflix library, and even that is only 63% of the US library. The UK has the third largest library with 52%, Norway and Sweden are joint fourth with 37%, whilst Australia is fifth with 35%.

% of US library in different countries:

Canada – 63%
United Kingdom – 52%
Norway – 37%
Sweden – 37%
Australia – 36%
France – 34%
Germany – 31%
Greece – 31%
Serbia – 31%
Japan – 31%
Bangladesh – 31%
Netherlands – 31%
Spain – 23%
Portugal – 13%
India – 13%
Kenya – 12%
Turkey – 12%
Egypt – 11%
Hong Kong – 9.5%

Explaining the motivations behind the Notflix tool, BestVPN.com’s Doug Crawford states, “We wanted Notflix to show how some countries are getting a raw deal when it comes to their Netflix subscription.

“Some countries, like Egypt, have as little as 11% of the total content that America has access to – but they’re paying more than $10 per month for the privilege.

“This discrepancy in catalogues is because of licensing restrictions forced upon Netflix. Netflix is fighting this by investing in its own exclusive content, which it can show worldwide.

“We’re not condemning Netflix – it wants as many people to see its content as we do.”

Other countries taken into account by Notflix include Bangladesh, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Kenya, Portugal, Serbia, and Spain.

It was estimated in July 2017 that Netflix currently has upwards of 104 million million subscribers worldwide.

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