{"id":495003,"date":"2023-06-07T08:02:32","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T06:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=495003"},"modified":"2023-06-07T08:06:58","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T06:06:58","slug":"south-africas-netflix-library-and-prices-vs-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/495003-south-africas-netflix-library-and-prices-vs-the-world.html","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s Netflix library and prices vs the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

While South Africa’s Netflix library is not among the ten biggest in the world, the service’s local price per title makes it great value compared to other global and similar African markets.<\/p>\n

Netflix is the world’s largest subscription video streaming service and offers thousands of movies and TV shows in the roughly 190 countries where it is available.<\/p>\n

However, it can’t stream all of the same content everywhere it operates, as content licencing agreements are often negotiated on a regional or per-country basis.<\/p>\n

For example, at the time of publication, you would not find the Harry Potter movies in the South African Netflix library.<\/p>\n

Locally, Showmax currently holds the streaming rights to these blockbuster movies.<\/p>\n

However, in certain countries \u2014 including the United Kingdom \u2014 Netflix has licenced the Harry Potter films.<\/p>\n

Experienced streamers will know that a virtual private network (VPN) allows for bypassing geoblocks by making it appear as though the user is accessing the service from another country.<\/p>\n

This isn’t guaranteed to always work, though, as streaming services continuously experiment with ways to curb geoblock circumvention.<\/p>\n

MyBroadband compared South Africa’s Netflix library size and price with 19 other countries that have catalogues of varying sizes.<\/p>\n

We used data from JustWatch<\/strong><\/a>, a website that shows what movies and series are available on the world’s most popular streaming services in different countries.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

JustWatch movies and TV shows database for the United Kingdom.<\/p><\/div>\n

With a title count of 6,167, South Africa’s library ranked 12th out of the 20 countries we considered.<\/p>\n

That was over 1,300 fewer, or about 17.6% less, than the country with the most extensive library \u2014 the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Other countries with sizeable libraries included Germany, the Netherlands, France, Thailand, Canada, and Australia.<\/p>\n

However, South Africans are much better off than those in the other African countries we compared.<\/p>\n

Netflix libraries in Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia each had fewer than 2,000 titles and over 3,000 less than the non-African country with the smallest library.<\/p>\n

With 1,287 titles, Zambia placed last out of the 20 countries. Its library was less than a quarter the size of South Africa’s.<\/p>\n

It’s also interesting to note that South Africa’s Netflix library has grown since we last performed such a comparison<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This is despite the increased competition in the space, such as the launch of Disney+, which often involves first-party content owners not renewing their licences with Netflix.<\/p>\n

The table below ranks the Netflix libraries of 20 countries \u2014 including South Africa \u2014 based on their total number of titles.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Library sizes compared<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ranking<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\nNumber of titles<\/strong><\/td>\nMovies<\/strong><\/td>\nTV shows<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nUnited Kingdom<\/td>\n7,488<\/strong><\/td>\n5,011<\/td>\n2,477<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nGermany<\/td>\n7,393<\/strong><\/td>\n5,147<\/td>\n2,246<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nNetherlands<\/td>\n7,198<\/strong><\/td>\n5,204<\/td>\n1,994<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nFrance<\/td>\n6,952<\/strong><\/td>\n4,692<\/td>\n2,260<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nThailand<\/td>\n6,771<\/strong><\/td>\n4,435<\/td>\n2,336<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nCanada<\/td>\n6,667<\/strong><\/td>\n4,342<\/td>\n2,352<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nAustralia<\/td>\n6,618<\/strong><\/td>\n4,197<\/td>\n2,421<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nNew Zealand<\/td>\n6,573<\/strong><\/td>\n4,147<\/td>\n2,426<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nJapan<\/td>\n6,357<\/strong><\/td>\n4,051<\/td>\n2,306<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nIndia<\/td>\n6,342<\/strong><\/td>\n3,837<\/td>\n2,505<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nUnited States<\/td>\n6,262<\/strong><\/td>\n3,904<\/td>\n2,358<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n6,167<\/strong><\/td>\n3,748<\/td>\n2,419<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nEgypt<\/td>\n5,956<\/strong><\/td>\n3,771<\/td>\n2,185<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nUnited Arab Emirates<\/td>\n5,947<\/strong><\/td>\n3,755<\/td>\n2,192<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nBrazil<\/td>\n5,917<\/strong><\/td>\n3,702<\/td>\n2,215<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nArgentina<\/td>\n5,805<\/strong><\/td>\n3,552<\/td>\n2,253<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nIsrael<\/td>\n5,294<\/strong><\/td>\n3,416<\/td>\n1,878<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nNigeria<\/td>\n1,991<\/strong><\/td>\n683<\/td>\n1,308<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\nKenya<\/td>\n1,950<\/strong><\/td>\n668<\/td>\n1,282<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nZambia<\/td>\n1,287<\/strong><\/td>\n497<\/td>\n790<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Our next step was to look at the value offered by a Netflix subscription in each of the 20 countries listed above when considering their prices.<\/p>\n

To determine this, we calculated a price-per-title for each country’s library using the local prices for the Netflix Standard plan, the service’s most popular option.<\/p>\n

On this front, South Africa performed much better than in overall library size, marginally beating Brazil for the fourth-best value at 2.6 cents per title.<\/p>\n

Egyptians got the most relative value, paying 1.3 cents per title. Stated differently, each title had an effective cost roughly half that of South Africa’s.<\/p>\n

South Africa and Egypt have similar library sizes, but the Standard subscription in the latter costs less than half what it does in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Other countries with high-value packages included India, Argentina, and Thailand.<\/p>\n

The country with the highest price per title was Zambia, which also had the smallest library of all the countries compared.<\/p>\n

Its subscription price of US$7.99 currently converts to nearly the same price for a subscription in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Nigeria was the second-worst country in terms of Netflix library value but was significantly cheaper than Zambia \u2014 at 7.6 cents per title.<\/p>\n

Kenya avoided third-last place thanks to its relatively cheap subscription price of \u00a0700 Kenyan Shillings, about R97.18 at the time of publication.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Netflix users in the United States enjoyed just slightly better value than those in Kenya \u2014 with each title costing 4.8 cents compared to 5.0 cents in the East African country.<\/p>\n

The table below shows the best-value Netflix subscriptions when ranking based on prices per title.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Price-per-title comparison<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ranking<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\nPrice<\/strong><\/td>\nPrice-per-title<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nEgypt<\/td>\n120 EGP \/ R74.87<\/td>\n1.3 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nIndia<\/td>\n499 INR \/ R116.57<\/td>\n1.8 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nArgentina<\/td>\n1,699 ARS \/ R135.18<\/td>\n2.3 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n159.00 ZAR<\/td>\n2.6 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nBrazil<\/td>\n39.90 BR \/ R155.67<\/td>\n2.6 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nThailand<\/td>\n349 THB \/ R193.40<\/td>\n2.9 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nJapan<\/td>\n1,490 JPY \/ R205.64<\/td>\n3.2 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nAustralia<\/td>\n16.99 AUD \/ R218.06<\/td>\n3.3 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nNew Zealand<\/td>\n18.49 NZD \/ R216.43<\/td>\n3.3 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nNetherlands<\/td>\n11.99 EUR \/ R246.77<\/td>\n3.4 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nUnited Arab Emirates<\/td>\n39 AED \/ R204.91<\/td>\n3.4 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nUnited Kingdom<\/td>\n10.99 GBP \/ R263.03<\/td>\n3.5 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nCanada<\/td>\n16.49 CAD \/ R236.78<\/td>\n3.6 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nGermany<\/td>\n12.99 EUR \/ R267.52<\/td>\n3.6 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nFrance<\/td>\n13.49 EUR \/ R277.98<\/td>\n4.0 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nUnited States<\/td>\n15.49 USD \/ R298.94<\/td>\n4.8 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nKenya<\/td>\n700 KES \/ R97.18<\/td>\n5.0 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nIsrael<\/td>\n54.90 ILS \/ R285.33<\/td>\n5.4 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\nNigeria<\/td>\n3,600 NGN \/ R150.48<\/td>\n7.6 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nZambia<\/td>\n7.99 USD \/ R154.19<\/td>\n12.0 cents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Now read: DStv adds BritBox streaming service to Explora Ultra and Streama<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We compared the library sizes and prices of Netflix Standard subscriptions in 20 countries to see how much value South African Netflix subscribers are getting for their money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":495033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[35,2054,62312,31696],"class_list":["post-495003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-headline","tag-netflix","tag-video-streaming-services","tag-virtual-private-network-vpn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495073,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495003\/revisions\/495073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}