Neflix has never released any financials and for the region and for the first time, the company is reporting its international business operating results by region. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the streaming company shared its revenue and membership information for Africa, Europe and Middle East. This change in how Netflix reports its earnings data highlights how important markets outside the US have become — especially as Netflix faces new competition.
Netflix revenues in the region have increased from USD 2.3 million to USD 4 million in 2017 to 2019 respectively, almost doubling its revenues. Paid streaming memberships between 2018 and 2019 have slightly grown from 37,601 to 47,355 which seem to be a bit disappointing considering the clout around the streaming service. Given the fact that Netflix allows password sharing these numbers don’t seem to be as huge as one would expect.
Combined Netflix Subscriber stats for Europe, Middle East and Africa
| Year | Revenues ($) | Paid net streaming membership additions | Paid streaming memberships | Average paid streaming memberships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2,362,813 | 8,173 | 26,004 | 21,476 |
| 2018 | 3,963,707 | 11,814 | 37,818 | 31,601 |
| 2019 | 3,980,506 | 9,537 | 47,355 | 43,119 |
More than half of Netflix’s 158 million global subscribers and 90 percent of its growth now come from outside the US. Since the first quarter of 2017, the Europe, Middle East and Africa region has seen a 140 percent increase in subscribers. The number of Netflix subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region has more than tripled in the same time, and Latin America now has 29.4 million subscribers, up from just 15.4 million in the first quarter of 2017.
Netflix is also facing competition from new streaming platforms, like Disney+, Apple TV+ and DSTV Now and ShowMax. Those could cause growth to slow even more in the saturated US and Canada market, so we may see Netflix focussing on growth overseas.
