Which Countries Have the Best Netflix?

Netflix Around the World: A Country-by-Country Breakdown

Key Takeaways

  • Japan, the United Kingdom, and Ireland have the best Netflix. The USA ranked 87th.
  • Japan has the most Netflix titles unavailable in the USA, followed by Romania.
  • Vermont, Wyoming, and Alaska are the states most interested in VPNs for streaming, based on search volume per 100,000 residents.

No Two Countries With Netflix Are Alike

Love it or hate it, there's no denying that Netflix has left a mark on entertainment around the world and given new meaning to the term "binge." However, Netflix's offerings for each country differ by number, quality, and many other variables. With limited offerings per country, VPN services are on the rise, allowing users to "switch" between countries to access more titles.

How does the USA line up in comparison to other countries with Netflix access? And which VPN services are the most popular? We pulled from 2022 and 2023 Google search volume data and Flixwatch to find out.

Netflix Around the World

With Netflix being one of the most popular streaming services in the world, it offers a large variety of content. Let's take a look at the numbers behind the titles it offers in each country.

countries-with-the-best-netflix

According to our study's rankings, Japan had the best Netflix overall, followed by the United Kingdom and Ireland. Japan consistently had high rankings per each variable we studied, coming in at No. 1 in the following categories:

  • Number of TV shows (1,789)
  • Number of titles not available anywhere else
  • Content quality

…and at No. 3 in the following categories:

  • Total number of titles
  • Number of movies (3,622)
  • Number of languages

Japan is known for its particular entertainment styles, and its media and culture can be found all over the world. But a great way to experience it from afar is through Japanese movies and TV shows.

Unfortunately, the USA ranked close to the bottom of the list at No. 87 out of 96 countries overall. It also ranked No. 51 for its number of movies on Netflix and No. 26 for TV shows, which is not impressive for the USA-based streaming service. And Netflix's drop in content quality won't bode well with American users who have seen their streaming subscription costs rise recently. This combination likely has many of them weighing their options between all the streaming services that are vying for their attention and budget.

Mapping Out Exclusive Content

Most Netflix subscribers are based outside the USA and Canada. So, how many countries have exclusive titles not available in the USA?

which-countries-have-the-most-titles-not-available-in-the-usa

Japan again topped the charts as both the country with the most Netflix titles not available in the USA (2,652) and the one with the most titles not available anywhere else (1,378). Romania followed at No. 2 in the first category, with 1,876 titles not available in the USA. South Korea was No. 2 for nationally exclusive Netflix titles, with 670. This might not come as a surprise, as K-drama popularity has exploded over the last few years. The USA was third, with 270.

Some highly rated titles available only in the USA are:

  • Leah Remini: Scientology and The Aftermath (9.4 IMDB)
  • The Great British Baking Show (8.6 IMDB)
  • Friday Night Lights (8.6 IMDB)
  • WWII: Lost Films (8.7 IMDB)
  • Dances With Wolves (8 IMDB)
  • Rain Man (8 IMDB)

VPN Searches in the USA

Setting up VPNs is an increasingly popular way to secure internet-connected devices. But it also has the added perk of giving Netflix subscribers access to more titles from around the world that they otherwise couldn't watch. Let's see which VPN services are most popular across North America.

searching-for-VPNs

Because some streaming titles aren't always available in every country, a VPN is a good way to access Netflix content only available in other countries. It encrypts a device's internet usage and directs the web traffic to a remote server owned by the VPN company. Because these servers are based in different regions, once your device is connected to a server in another country, it will appear to have the IP address of that server, making it look like you're accessing the internet from that country.

Netflix usage shot up during the pandemic, but viewership has since died back down. That could be due to the world opening back up again, but some users may also feel they've run out of things to watch.

If you're hungry for more Netflix titles, check out ExpressVPN. We found this was the most popular option, with more than 4 million searches in the past year alone. Or, look into the following top two: NordVPN and Surfshark. In the USA, the three states most interested in VPNs for streaming in the past year were Vermont, Wyoming, and Alaska (based on search volume per 100,000 residents).

top-netflix-title-searches-per-capita

So, what titles are people in North America searching for most? We found that, per capita, the 2022 animated film, Minions: The Rise of Gru had the most USA states searching for how to stream it. But up north, Canada and Alaska showed more interest in the 18th-century drama series: Outlander. And the reality dating show Love is Blind was the top choice in Ontario, Canada. Lucky for them, Netflix is streaming Love is Blind: Brazil and Love is Blind: Japan worldwide.

To Subscribe or Not To Subscribe?

Is a Netflix subscription worth the money? It's tough to say because it depends on where you live. The number and quality of titles available vary widely by country. Even though Netflix is based in the USA, this country ranked lower than you might expect for the total number of titles available and even lower for their quality. While countless VPN services are available to help bridge this gap, you'll pay for it on top of your Netflix subscription cost. If this has you considering other streaming service options, you're probably not alone.

Methodology

To determine which countries have the best Netflix, we gathered data from Flixwatch and created a metaranking using eight different variables for each country. The variables considered were:

  • Total number of titles
  • Total number of movies
  • Total number of TV shows
  • Variety of content
  • Number of exclusive titles (titles available only in each country)
  • Number of titles available in the USA (USA common)
  • Language variety
  • Quality of content (based on IMDB ratings)

We also collected Google Trends search volume data from 2022 and 2023 to determine search trends in the USA and Canada.

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