The Countries That Produce The Most Popular Movies and Series on Netflix

Eleven years ago, Netflix began producing its own original content, but it didn’t just come from the United States. Over the years, they’ve built production hubs in many countries all around the world and bought and produced titles in dozens more, but which countries are the most prominent hit makers? 

From massive production facilities across the United States, including major production offices and stages in Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Albuquerque, to major production hubs in the UK at Shepperton Studios and Tres Cantos in Madrid, plus offices across Europe, Latin America, and Asia, their investment isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Netflix has stated on numerous occasions that movies and TV shows are designed to target their home regions first and foremost, and if they can become global hits, all the better. 

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Methodology on Calculating the Most Popular Countries

The methodology used here is important. To establish this ranking, I took the average CVEs (Complete Viewings Equivalent) of the top 3 fiction series and the top 3 films with the highest audience for each country over the first 14 days of release globally since June 2021. I then applied a logarithmic function to these averages based on the number of series and films released in the same period, to try to weigh the results by the number of releases. For example, between two countries with the same average CVEs for their top three film and series successes, the country with fewer releases is ranked higher because its success rate is greater.

This is not a perfect methodology, far from it, but I chose to rank the countries based on this weighted score. However, I will also provide the “raw” score on a 100-point scale (100 points for the best average in films and series, with other scores calculated proportionally) in case the success rate isn’t as relevant to you.

Countries that have not managed to place at least three films and three series in the weekly Top 10 for at least two or three weeks since June 2021 are not included. Is that clear? Alright, let’s dive in.

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6.7 weighted points (20.6 gross points – 75 releases)

Let’s start with India, which is perhaps one of the most emblematic disappointments since the country has been the 4th largest exporter of Netflix Originals since June 2021, but with rather underwhelming results. Indian third-party films perform better than originals, and it may not be coincidental that Netflix India has been giving them more attention. However, noteworthy films include Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (17.4M CVEs in 14 days) and Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (9.3M CVEs in 14 days) for series.

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8.8 weighted points (21.9 gross points – 41 releases)

South Africa performs better than India, both gross and weighted, thanks to one particular advantage: English-language films and series. These programs tend to do better globally, such as Heart of the Hunter (24.2M CVEs) or Fatal Seduction (13.7M CVEs). The country has also released nearly half the number of films and series that Netflix India has.

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9 weighted points (17.9 gross points – 23 releases)

Netflix Thailand has released even fewer programs (about a third of Netflix India’s releases), but the country has a major success with the film Hunger (30.5M CVEs). On the series side, Master of the House hit almost 10M CVEs, but beyond that, it’s been tougher. So, few programs, but a couple of major hits, allowing Thailand to rank 18th.

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9.3 weighted points (27.1 gross points – 58 releases)

Japan is also somewhat of a disappointment given the number of releases, with series and films performing globally at similar levels. There haven’t been any major hits, but there is a relative balance. The second season of Alice in Borderland is their top-performing series (18.4M CVEs), while on the film side, Demon City leads (21.8M CVEs). What’s underperformed are animated films, which have had many releases but almost no significant successes.

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9.5 weighted points (26.7 gross points – 56 releases)

Turkey has roughly the same results as Japan but with a key difference: Netflix Turkey’s films are performing much better than its series, with films contributing two-thirds of its weighted score. The issue is that the three biggest hits in Turkish films (In Good Hands, Last Call for Istanbul, and Make Me Believe) are from 2022 and 2023, suggesting a downward trend. On the series side, only one series has exceeded 10M CVEs in 14 days, which was the mini-series Who Were We Running From? from 2023.

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10.6 weighted points (14.4 gross points – 12 releases)

Belgium has only 12 global releases for films and series, many of which are related to the Underground series, which had numerous spin-offs in both film and series formats. However, the film Noise was the most-watched in its first 14 days (15.3M CVEs), and on the series side, Rough Diamonds, released in 2023, is leading with 7M CVEs. However, it wasn’t renewed, indicating that the success wasn’t substantial.

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11.1 weighted points (28.4 gross points – 47 releases)

Brazil is likely one of the countries with the most Netflix subscribers, and it’s no surprise that the company held one of its TUDUM events there. However, Brazilian programs have had some trouble making a global impact. Films perform better than series, with modest successes like Someone Borrowed (24M CVEs). The issue is that these successes are old, and the highest-ranked 2024 Brazilian film is only 11th. On the series side, Senna, released in late 2024 (10.3M), is one of the year’s few successes, but no major breakout hits have emerged from Brazil yet.

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14.5 weighted points (41.3 gross points – 55 releases)

After years of underperformance, Netflix Mexico has been on fire in recent weeks/months, with its three biggest film successes released since July 2024, including the mega-hit Counterattack (46.4M CVEs) released in February 2025. On the series side, the three biggest Mexican successes have been from 2022, 2023, and 2024, showing a steady stream of hits, with The Accident leading (24.5M CVEs). Mexico is definitely the trending country of the moment! Well done, Netflix Mexico!

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15.7 weighted points (46.4 gross points – 70 releases)

Netflix Poland releases a lot of programs—but in the end, it has had relatively few major successes. On the film side, the two 365 Days sequels from 2022 dominate, and without them, the country would drop two spots in the ranking. However, there was a notable success with Colors of Evil: Red in 2024 (36.6M CVEs). As for series, the undisputed Polish hit is the mini-series High Water with 18.2M CVEs, and two Harlan Coben adaptations in the Top 4 (Hold Tight and Just One Look). I don’t know why Netflix insists on producing so many Polish programs, but I imagine they have other data supporting this surge. Or perhaps it’s to meet European production quotas by producing a lot in one of Europe’s cheapest countries.

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16 weighted points (40.1 gross points – 45 releases)

Italy had a good 2024, with successes in films like The Tearsmith (36.4M CVEs), Vanished into the Night (31.3M), and The Children’s Train (20.8M CVEs), which account for three places in the top 4 of the most-watched Italian films since 2021, behind My Name is Vendetta (39M). On the series side, 2024 also saw the release of Italy’s most-watched series in its first 14 days, Deceitful Love (19.3M CVEs). So, Italy is also on the rise, but there was a slight disappointment with the second season of Lidia Poet, which didn’t meet the expectations set by its first season.

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20 weighted points (45.2 gross points – 28 releases)

We enter the Top 10 with Sweden, another country on a good streak, with recent film successes like Let Go (27.5M CVEs) and Trouble (25.7M) in 2024, behind the huge hit Black Crab from 2022 (44.5M CVEs). On the series side, only two series have truly broken through (The Breakthrough, early 2025 with 18.2M CVEs, and A Nearly Normal Family, 20.3M in 2023). If Netflix Sweden can release a third series that performs just as well, it could rise further in the ranking.

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20.1 weighted points (33.3 gross points – 14 releases)

Another small surprise in this ranking is Denmark’s high position, mainly due to the fact that Netflix Denmark has released few programs in the last three years but has managed to score some significant successes, such as Loving Adults, A Beautiful Life, and Toscana, even The Bombardment, all above 18M CVEs. While these are successes from the “past,” dating back to 2022-2023, roughly the same period as the three biggest series successes (The Nurse, Elves, and The Chestnut Man), the trend is expected to decline in 2024 and 2025.

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21.5 weighted points (53.9 gross points – 36 releases)

Germany’s top three most-watched films are an interesting mix of genres, including the vampire movie Blood Red Sky (47.5M), the prestige film All Quiet on the Western Front (33.5M), and the sci-fi film Paradise (27.4M). Recently, it’s been a bit tougher, with only Delicious managing to reach 18.3M CVEs in early March. On the series side, the top trio is also diverse, featuring the miniseries Dear Child (30.4M), the canceled mega-budget series 1899 (26.2M), and the historical series The Empress (21.2M). So, there is nice variety in German programming, but some titles are a bit outdated, although Cassandra, season 2 of The Empress, and The Signal have made very respectable scores in recent months, between 13 and 18M CVEs.

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23.4 weighted points (61.4 gross points – 48 releases)

In terms of gross results, French programs perform very well on the film side, as France has the second-best average for the top three successes, far behind the U.S. but just ahead of Spain, with three films currently in the all-time Top 10 international, namely Under Paris, AKA, and Ad Vitam. However, the country is most affected by my methodology, which starts in June 2021, as it excludes the two biggest French series successes, namely the first two seasons of Lupin, for which I don’t have 14-day data. If I estimate these based on available comparisons, France would rise to 87.9 gross points / 31.5 weighted points, placing it in a tie with the UK in third place. But this only takes into account three (declining) seasons of the same series, and the follow-up isn’t quite at that level, although The Cage and Furies performed well in 2024, showing an upward trend for French programs. However, for every success, there are two fairly significant flops, which makes France a unique case in the Netflix ecosystem.

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28.5 weighted points (38.9 gross points – 15 releases)

Australia is also an interesting case because, although it’s an English-speaking territory, its series struggle to export, with its top three successes (Echoes, Territory, Apple Cider Vinegar) not being hits in the English-speaking sphere, averaging only 15.5M CVEs. Even France, without Lupin, does better. But it’s the films, with successes like Interceptor (51.1M) and a low number of releases, that save the country in this ranking. Apparently, there is talk in Australia about implementing production quotas, so we might see many more Australian programs in the coming years.

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28.7 weighted points (90.3 gross points – 78 releases)

Spain is the third-largest producer, with 78 series and films released since June 2021, but the country can also count on enormous hits like Nowhere, Society of the Snow, and Through my Window (all three in the Top 10 all-time, along with The Platform, which isn’t included in my comparison as it was released before June 2021). Also not included are the La Casa de Papel seasons other than season 5, which would likely have changed things quite a bit, as Berlin and season 5 of Elite make up the top three series with much lower averages. In any case, Spain remains one of the most important countries for Netflix, as the service has set up a huge production hub there.

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30.8 weighted points (57.7 gross points – 19 releases)

Surprisingly, Norway ranks fourth in this list, thanks to its low release rate, but the small Nordic country has also managed to score significant successes, such as La Palma in December 2024 (43.9M CVEs). It also holds the title of the most-watched international film on Netflix with Troll (80.2M), and with a sequel coming soon, it could gain even more points in the ranking. Norway produces few but hits hard more than others.

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31.5 weighted points (100.7 gross points – 69 releases)

The UK has been performing well in recent months, especially on the series side after the successes of Fool Me Once in 2024 (61M CVEs), The Gentlemen, and Baby Reindeer, but especially Adolescence in 2025 (80.6M CVEs). Strangely, it’s the film side that lags behind, with only one big success, Luther: Fallen Sun (70.5M CVEs). After that, you’d have to go quite far down the rankings to find the animated film That Christmas (39M) and Seven Kings Must Die (36.1M). Very good on series, lacking on films—Netflix UK, you know what you need to do!

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32.5 weighted points (120.8 gross points – 83 releases)

Another country that relies more on its series than its films is South Korea, which benefits massively from the Squid Game effect, as the two seasons push the results up, overshadowing the films, with the top three films ranging from 27.5M CVEs to 36.5M. A good sign is that two of the films in the top three (Badland Hunters and Officer Black Belt) were released in 2024, indicating an upward trend for South Korean programs in 2024. But once Squid Game ends in June 2025, what will remain?

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44.3 weighted points (200 gross points – 361 releases)

Finally, with no surprise and despite a deluge of new programs, the United States is still the territory that generates the biggest hits, such as Wednesday, Red Notice, Stranger Things, Don’t Look Up, Carry On, and many others over the past three years. Of the 50 biggest film hits since June 2021, 44 are American, and of the 50 biggest series hits since June 2021, 33 are American. Netflix USA spends a lot of money and energy trying to hit big with huge swings, and when it succeeds, it hits really big, but when it does not, it flops spectacularly (I’m looking at you, The Electric State).

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Bonus: FlixPatrol Quarterly Rankings

While we’re on the subject of country rankings, we’ve been provided some exclusive data from FlixPatrol (who tracks the daily top 10s around the globe) for the first quarter of 2025 to demonstrate just how dominant US titles (licensed and Originals) are all around the world. 

1. United States (508,090 points – 63.14%)
2. United Kingdom (50,478 points – 6.27%)
3. South Korea (36,377 points – 4.52%)
4. France (35,600 points – 4.42%)
5. Spain (21,177 points – 2.63%)
6. Colombia (18,558 points – 2.31%)
7. India (17,526 points – 2.18%)
8. Italy (14,562 points – 1.81%)
9. Mexico (12,366 points – 1.54%)
10. Japan (12,178 points – 1.51%)
11. Poland (12,084 points – 1.50%)
12. Turkey (9,463 points – 1.18%)
13. Ireland (6,536 points – 0.81%)
14. Germany (6,030 points – 0.75%)
15. Brazil (5,806 points – 0.72%)
16. China (4,998 points – 0.62%)
17. Sweden (3,476 points – 0.43%)
18. Russia (3,244 points – 0.40%)
19. Canada (2,978 points – 0.37%)
20. Australia (2,514 points – 0.31%)
21. Taiwan (2,374 points – 0.30%)
22. Luxembourg (2,081 points – 0.26%)
23. Egypt (1,646 points – 0.20%)
24. Czech Republic (1,570 points – 0.20%)
25. Philippines (1,358 points – 0.17%)

Putting that into a graph form highlights the absurdity of just how much US content dominates the Netflix daily top 10 movie and TV chart: 

A version of this article was first available on the Netflix & Chiffres Substack.