Netflix subscribers worldwide

Netflix subscriber count climbing globally as American thrift sales also climb. Two cheap entertainments, two affordable solutions to a flat-wage decade, sharing the calendar with the patience of any product that hits its market.

Netflix subscribers grew from about 30 million in 2012 to over 270 million by 2023 as international expansion accelerated. US thrift and secondhand revenue roughly doubled in the same window as Gen Z secondhand culture, Depop, Poshmark, and the eco-label tailwind expanded the category. Both reflect the same cheap-alternatives pattern thriving in a decade of stagnant real wages: the consumer found ways to entertain and dress without buying new at full retail. Subscription and secondhand, the same wallet decision in different aisles.

When wages stayed flat, cheaper options grew. Different categories, same financial reasoning.