Philippines has cheapest Netflix plans in SE Asia

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos pay the cheapest price among Southeast Asians for a Netflix subscription. 

In the Philippines, subscribing to the streaming pioneer’s services requires just about two thirds of a day’s wage for a monthly service, according to data analyst Visual Capitalist.

Visual Capitalist gathered the cost of a Netflix subscription in 244 countries and territories based on standard rates as of December 2023.

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines turned in the cheapest price at $7.19, or around P395, meaning it takes only 65 percent of the daily pay in Metro Manila at P610, to subscribe to Netflix monthly.

In comparison, it costs $7.72 to subscribe to Netflix per month in Indonesia, and  $7.99 in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar. Further, a consumer pays $9.08 for a monthly subscription in Vietnam, $9.65 in Malaysia, $9.9 in Thailand and $11.99 in Brunei.

Singapore tallied the highest cost at $13.02 in the region. Globally, it is most expensive to get a Netflix service in Switzerland at $21.48, followed by Denmark and Greenland ($16.46), Ireland ($16.15) and the US ($15.49).

Purchasing a Netflix subscription is most affordable in Pakistan at $2.82, Turkey at $3.38, Argentina at $3.57, Egypt at $3.88 and Nigeria at $4.48.

The Visual Capitalist said several factors impact the price of subscribing to Netflix, including the purchasing power in a market, as well as the availability of streaming rivals.

“Netflix tailors its prices to align with the purchasing power of consumers in each market, (and) countries with higher average incomes typically bear higher subscription costs,” it said.

Netflix is also forced to adjust its prices downward if competitors are abundant in a landscape. In the Philippines, consumers are offered a wide range of streaming platforms, from Amazon Prime and HBO Go on the international side, and iWant and Vivamax on the local end.

The Visual Capitalist also flagged content licensing as one of the factors that affect Netflix rates in a market. Countries that impose higher licensing fees tend to record higher subscription costs.

In the end, the Visual Capitalist said it would be interesting to monitor how Netflix will change its pricing model to retain its dominance in the streaming competition.

Netflix is the largest streaming outlet in the world, available in 190 countries with a user base of more than 240 million, providing its subscribers access to a library of films and shows at the touch of a button.