YouTube ‘overtakes Netflix’ in average daily viewing minutes worldwide

YouTube has overtaken Netflix in average daily viewing minutes per user, according to UK-based data company Digital i.

Matt Ross

The Google-owned video-sharing platform saw daily consumption rise from 87.2 minutes per user in 2024 to 99.1 minutes in 2025, Digital i said.

That surpasses Netflix, which recorded 100.5 minutes in 2024 but fell to 93.4 minutes last year.

The figures were revealed in Digital i’s latest trend report, The YouTube Era: 2025 in Review. It identifies content consumption habits across 20 global markets, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and South Korea.

Gen Z remains YouTube’s most engaged age group, averaging 111 minutes per day. However, demographic growth was strongest among men aged 55 to 64, whose viewing increased 15% year-on-year. Women of all ages also increased their daily average YouTube usage.

South Korean YouTube users spent considerably more time per day on the platform, at 161.5 minutes, than those in the other measured countries. Japan was second with 128.5 minutes per day, followed by the US with 111.6 minutes.

On average, Italians are the most infrequent YouTube users of the countries studied, spending just 50.5 minutes per day on the service – around a third of the time spent by South Korean viewers.

In France, usage rose 33.6% from 57 minutes in 2024 to 77 minutes in 2025, while in Spain it grew 31.9% from 44 minutes to 58 minutes year-on-year.

Audiences are also spending more time watching YouTube on TV sets and less time on mobile devices. From the first quarter of 2024 to the final quarter of 2025, there was “gradual and sustained” growth in the share of viewing time on TV sets, rising from 28.2% to 33.7%.

Netflix has been attempting to claw back viewers from YouTube by adding to its library of video podcasts and striking deals for live sports.

Despite falling behind YouTube in daily viewing consumption, Netflix has been able to use the platform as an effective brand-awareness channel. Netflix’s official YouTube channel had the highest reach of any channel last year, reaching 78.2 million unique accounts.

Its closest rivals were US gaming brand IGN, with 70 million, and pop star Lady Gaga, with 69.5 million. Amazon-owned streamer Prime Video’s YouTube channel, by contrast, reached 38.8 million unique accounts.

YouTube is the stronger platform for personalised content, while subscription streamers lead on global series, the report claims. During 2025, Netflix concentrated 32% of viewing time within its top 100 titles, while YouTube generated just 6% from its top 100 channels.

Matt Ross, chief analytics officer at Digital i, said: “YouTube’s evolution from a social video service into a dominant global attention platform is one of the defining media shifts of the decade.

“Our data shows audiences increasingly treating YouTube not as social media, but as a primary entertainment destination.”