Netflix spent $135 billion on content in last decade
Netflix spent $135 billion on content in last decade
The streamer has seen meaningful gains from the massive outlay, demonstrating the need to spend money to make money.
Netflix wants to measure its impact on a global scale. In a new report called “The Netflix Effect,” the streamer’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, provides a glimpse into how Netflix has shaped not only audiences and viewing trends around the world, but also global economies. The report marks the first time that the world’s largest streamer has disclosed how much money it has spent on global content, totaling $135 billion over the last decade.
Key Details:
- Meaningful investment: Netflix has spent $135 billion on content in the past decade.
- Staying employed: Netflix says it has created over 400,000 jobs with its productions.
- Creating an aura: The Netflix Effect could be intended to convince customers of the streamer’s indispensability.
Per Sarandos, Netflix has spent $135 billion on TV and movies in the past 10 years, averaging out to $13.5 billion annually, and that number has been rising on a near annual basis. In 2025, Netflix spent $18 billion on content, and executives said at the time that the streamer was nowhere near its spending ceiling.
An increasing portion of Netflix’s content spend in the upcoming years will be devoted to live sports. The streamer will spend $700 million or more on live sports in 2026, and with additional NFL games headed to the platform, that budget will only continue to rise.
The Netflix Effect also posits that the company has created 425,000 jobs with its productions, contributing $325 billion to the global economy. Independent analysis may come up with different figures, of course, but if Netflix’s in-house numbers are accurate, the data shows the streamer for what it has long been believed to be: one of the most important media companies in the world.
So, why is Netflix launching The Netflix Report? There are likely multiple reasons, but one of them could be that the streamer wants to continue confirming itself as indispensable in the eyes of subscribers. The more Netflix can portray itself as a pillar in the global community, the more pause it could give to subscribers who are thinking about canceling their subscription.
Some of the numbers in the first Netflix Effect might be a little iffy — I’m not sure a 25% jump in travel to South Korea can be completely attributed to the release of “KPop Demon Hunters” as Netflix suggests, for example. But the streamer’s global impact is impossible to deny, and it will continue to grow that impact along with its content spend in the coming years.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”