Global: Consumers are planning to cut back on streaming subscriptions in face of inflation

With household budgets under pressure in the face of rising global inflation, we asked consumers across 18 markets about their spending plans for subscriptions services like Netflix, Spotify, and Disney+.

Data from the YouGov study reveals that almost a third of global consumers (28%) expect to cut back on their streaming budgets compared to last year, while three out five consumers (60%) plan to lay out about the same as they’re spending now.

Only slightly more than one in 10 respondents (12%) say that they are more likely to spend than last year.

More than a third of Polish consumers (34%) expect to curtail their spending on streaming subscriptions. This number drops to a little less than one in three consumers across other parts of Europe (Germany, 29%; GB, 28%; Italy, 28%).

Similarly, in the Americas, almost a quarter of consumers (US, 23%; Mexico, 26; Canada, 24%) say they expect to reduce their expenditure on streaming services compared to last year.

Notably, while two out of five consumers in France (40%) expect to spend less on streaming services than last year, only 5% expect to spend more – the lowest in all 18 markets.

The Asian market remains divided. While more than a third of consumers in India (35%), China (32%), and Singapore (34%) say that they will spend less, this percentage decreases to less than a quarter of consumers in Australia (19%) and Hong Kong (24%%). In Indonesia, however, almost half of consumers (47%) expect to spend less on streaming services than last year with just 37% expected to pay about the same.

Standing out from the global trend, more than a fifth of consumers in India (25%) and UAE (22%) expect to spend more on streaming services than last year.

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Methodology: YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on the surveys of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 507 and 2,004 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in June 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.