Worldwide OTT Video Viewers Forecast 2025

Slow Growth for YouTube, Netflix, and Others, Even as Billions of Digital Video Viewers Remain Untapped

Report by Ethan Cramer-Flood  | UPDATED: Dec 11, 2024
Download
Report
Deck
Executive Summary
Share
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Digital video is ubiquitous, but some formats and platforms have headroom for growth
YouTube’s reach is unmatched, despite being inaccessible to a billion digital video viewers in China
Sub OTT is popular all over the world, but at very different levels depending on the region
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are the only sub OTT players in YouTube’s league
A plurality of the world’s digital video and OTT viewership is locked away in China
Media Gallery
About This Report
OTT video is popular whether it’s free or paid. Every global region and country we track is engaged with these platforms, some very deeply. But new viewers will be hard to find.
Topics
Digital Video
Video-on-Demand (VOD)
Worldwide
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Digital video is ubiquitous, but some formats and platforms have headroom for growth
YouTube’s reach is unmatched, despite being inaccessible to a billion digital video viewers in China
Sub OTT is popular all over the world, but at very different levels depending on the region
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are the only sub OTT players in YouTube’s league
A plurality of the world’s digital video and OTT viewership is locked away in China
Media Gallery

Nearly everyone who is online worldwide is a digital video viewer. Some 2.50 billion of those viewers will be watching YouTube in 2025, and 2.25 billion will be watching subscription OTT (sub OTT) video. With numbers that huge, growth has slowed to a crawl in most geographies.

Key Question: How many people around the world will watch digital video, sub OTT video, and various major OTT platforms in 2025? And what will viewership look like at the regional and country levels?

Digital Video Viewers Worldwide, by Format and Platform, 2025 (% of internet users)
E-Mail ChartDownload

Key Stat: Over half of the world’s internet users will be YouTube viewers in 2025, and nearly that many people will watch sub OTT services. Among the latter, Netflix will lead in viewers.

Here’s what’s in the full report

3files

Exportable files for easy reading, analysis and sharing.

11charts

Reliable data in simple displays for presentations and quick decision making.

Table of Contents

  1. Executive Summary
  2. Digital video is ubiquitous, but some formats and platforms have headroom for growth
  3. YouTube’s reach is unmatched, despite being inaccessible to a billion digital video viewers in China
  1. Sub OTT is popular all over the world, but at very different levels depending on the region
  2. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are the only sub OTT players in YouTube’s league
  3. A plurality of the world’s digital video and OTT viewership is locked away in China
  1. Media Gallery

Charts in This Report

Digital Video Viewers Worldwide, by Format and Platform, 2025 (% of internet users)YouTube Viewers Worldwide, 2023-2028 (billions, % change, % of internet users)
YouTube Viewers Worldwide, by Region, 2025 (millions)Subscription OTT Video Viewers Worldwide, 2023-2028 (billions, % change, and % of internet users)
Subscription OTT Video Viewer Penetration Worldwide, by Region, 2025 (% of internet users)Top 10 Countries Worldwide, Ranked by Subscription OTT Video Service Penetration, 2025 (% of internet users)
Top 5 Countries Worldwide, Ranked by Subscription OTT Video Viewer Growth, 2025 (% change)Netflix Viewers Worldwide, 2023-2028 (millions, % change, and % of internet users)
Netflix Viewers Worldwide, by Region, 2025 (millions)Netflix and Amazon Are Surprisingly Competitive With YouTube in Some Markets, but Not in India or Japan (millions of viewers in select countries, 2025)
Digital Video Viewers in China, by Format and Platform, 2025 (millions)

Access All Charts and Data

Gain access to reliable data presented in clear and intelligible displays for quick understanding and decision making on the most important topics related to your industry, included at no extra cost.
Gain Access to EMARKETER →
Log in to EMARKETER
Download PDF

First Published on Dec 9, 2024

authors

Ethan Cramer-Flood

Contributors

Ross Benes
Senior Analyst
Franco Bernasconi
Paul Briggs
Principal Analyst
Oscar Bruce Jr.
Director, Forecasting
Vladimir de Leon
Chart Editor
Nikolai Dineros
Zach Goldner
Senior Forecasting Analyst
Penelope Lin
Director, Data Visualization
Andrew Spink
Forecasting Analyst
Julia Woolever
Antonella Yannelli