Indians enjoy Netflix at third cheapest rates across world, but with poor internet speed

Data collated by Comparitech from 39 countries funds that Netflix India has among the best IMDB-rated titles in its catalog, while South Korea has the best content.

A laptop computer screen displaying the Netflix homepage | Photo: Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg

New Delhi: India is the third most cost-effective country to watch Netflix in but also among the top three nations with worst internet speed, according to a study released Wednesday.

Conducted by Comparitech, a pro consumer information providing website, the study showed that Brazil, South Africa and India have the world’s most cost-effective Netflix subscription plans.

The findings are based on data collected from 39 countries between 2019 and 2020 February and includes the number of TV shows and movies available, as well as costs of different plans per month.

Based on this data, it has found that customers in the United Kingdom have access to the largest number of titles (movies and TV shows) with a total of 6,122, followed by Ireland with 6,112 and Canada with 5,998. India has a total of 5,497 titles.

The basic Netflix plan in India, of Rs 499 per month, is the third cheapest in the world. It is the cheapest in Brazil with BRL 21.90 (Rs 292) per month. A standard plan in India costs Rs 649 every month, which is again the third cheapest, while a premium plan worth Rs 799 a month is the second cheapest in the world.

The basic plan for Netflix limits usage to a single screen and standard definition. However, the standard plan allows HD streaming on two screens. A premium plan allows four screens and HD/4K ultra HD streaming.

India has worst internet speed, but better content

The data also showed that while Switzerland, Romania and Netherlands enjoy the best average streaming internet speed (around 4.5 mbps), India, South Africa and Philippines have average streaming speeds. Out of the 39 countries, India has the third worst internet speed of 2.96 mbps on average.

However, India is at the third position globally for the best IMDB-rated titles in its catalog. The average IMDB rating for all available content in India is 6.8 out of 10, according to the data. Around 28.8 per cent content available in India has IMDB rating between 8 and 10.

The best content is available in South Korea, with average rating of 6.81 and the maximum shows with rating between 8 and 10 are available in Russia (29.57 per cent).