Who is canceling their Netflix subscription in the Nordics?

After years of success, Netflix has reported declining subscribers in 2022. Netflix still has a solid image in the Nordics. Still, the streaming market in the Nordics is fierce, with national video streaming services and a wide range of international streaming giants fighting over Nordic consumers’ time and money. This makes it interesting to explore why people are canceling their Netflix subscriptions and who they are.

By diving into YouGov Profiles data and looking at the last quarter, we can see that one-eighth of the population in the Nordics have canceled their Netflix subscription.

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Most in Finland, where 16% say they are no longer customers of Netflix, and the fewest in Denmark, where 12% have canceled their subscription.

More men than women have canceled their subscriptions. Looking at Netflix’s current customers, more men than women also have a subscription but considering that, men are still overrepresented compared to existing customers of Netflix.

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The leaving rate is somewhat equally split among age groups when looking at former customers of Netflix. There are, however, more people 60+ years old among Netflix’s former customers (24%). Considering that there are more young people (18-29 years old) among Netflix customers, it seems that it is losing a larger share of its customers among the 60+ years old.

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The household economy also seems to be a driving factor for leaving Netflix. The lower-income group (27%) are overrepresented compared to the low-income group among Netflix’s current customer (22%).

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The value for money perception

Looking back, Netflix has been rated very high on value for money (not necessarily “cheap" but that the brands offer a customer a lot in return for the price paid). However, the subscription cost seems to be a driving factor for leaving Netflix. Looking at the Nordics as a whole, only one in five (21%) of those who have left Netflix believe that the streaming service provides good value for money. By comparison, over half of the current customers (55%) believe that the streaming service offers good value.

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Fewest of the former customers in Sweden (15%) and Norway (17%) believe that Netflix offers a good value for money.

Who will win over former customers of Netflix?

Will Netflix be able to win back subscribers? Using Denmark as an example, it seems that national video streaming services led by national broadcasters will gain the most if Netflix continues to lose subscribers.

When asking Netflix’s former customers which of the following streaming services they would consider watching, 55% mentioned DRTV. This makes sense if the household economy plays a role since DRTV is free (paid via media tax).

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The second most considered streaming service in Denmark among former customers of Netflix is TV2 Play with 40%, while HBO Max, Disney+, and Viaplay fight for the third position.

Methodology

Data were drawn from YouGov Profiles, June 2022.