Stream the World: Paid Streaming Subscriptions Will Hit 2 Billion by 2029

Unlike salmon, we’re all going with the stream.

By 2029, paid subscriptions to online video-streaming services will surpass 2 billion, according to new data from Ampere. The international expansion of the U.S. streaming giants, coupled with their crackdowns on password sharing, addition of new bundles, and the launch of cheaper ad-supported tiers, will bring us to that milestone number within about four years.

It’s a huge number that probably has you trying to remember how many people there are on Earth. We Googled it to be sure: As of 2024, there are an estimate 8 billion-plus of us, and combined, we already have 1.8 billion paid streaming subscriptions (we know it already feels like you alone must subscribe to a million of those). So technically, there are still four people for every one streaming subscription — it’s times like these when you should stream “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and remember that not everyone in the world has broadband access.

We collectively reached 1 billion global streaming subscriptions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 alone, the stay-at-home protocols contributed to 282 million new streaming signups. Global streaming subscriptions doubled from 2019 to 2024 — that pace won’t repeat from 2024 to 2029.

Here in the U.S. (335 million people in 2023), we’re pretty much set with our streaming subscriptions by now. Some will come and some will go, but the big ones (in video) like Netflix and Disney+ have pretty much matured in the marketplace — the real growth will come from the Asia Pacific region. APAC has lots of people, but not a ton of money (per person). Don’t feel sorry for the streamers though.

Ampere says subscription streaming revenues will grow nearly three times faster than subscribers in the race to 2 billion. The London-based market researcher forecasts better than 30 percent growth in revenue by 2029. Streamers are salivating over profits these days, not merely subscriber acquisition.

Streaming is “soon to be the largest contributing segment to the global TV economy,” Ampere wrote in its report shared with IndieWire. Streamers will generate almost $170 billion annually in 2029 from paid subscriptions; Netflix will have a 29 percent market share.

Additionally, those same SVODs will generated an additional $22 billion from ad sales in 2029, when the annual revenue of the global subscription streaming market will be north of $190 billion.