Streaming giants are charging UK citizens premium levels, while global users pay sometimes only a fraction of the cost. This is seen across YouTube Premium, Spotify, and Apple Music subscriptions and the variances reveal that price is not always a deterrent when predicting consumer behaviour.
The data comes VPN services provider AstrillVPN, who have identified the online streaming services with the most significant price differences for British consumers, compared to subscribers in other countries across the globe.
The research analysed subscription prices for nine popular streaming services across 21 countries, with all prices converted to pounds sterling for direct comparison. The study revealed that British consumers consistently pay some of the highest rates worldwide for digital subscriptions.
As examples of the issue:
- YouTube Premium subscribers in the UK pay £12.99 monthly, making Britain the most expensive country for this service globally. The same subscription costs just £6.04 in Mexico, less than half the UK price.
- Spotify charges UK users £11.99 per month, ranking Britain as the most expensive market for this music streaming service. In contrast, Saudi Arabian subscribers pay a mere £0.44 monthly, meaning UK users pay 27 times more for the same service.
- Apple Music follows the same pattern, with UK monthly subscriptions costing £10.99, the highest rate worldwide. Saudi Arabian users again pay the least at just £0.44, representing a staggering 25-fold difference in price.
In addition, the UK ranks second globally for Netflix costs at £12.99 monthly, with only the United States charging more at £13.49. This places British subscribers at a significant disadvantage compared to Saudi Arabian users, who pay just £0.98 per month.
Streaming service price differences
| Streaming Service | UK Monthly Cost (£) | UK Global Rank | Most Expensive Country | Cheapest Country |
| YouTube Premium | £12.99 | 1st | UK (£12.99) | Egypt (£1.05) |
| Spotify | £11.99 | 1st | UK (£11.99) | Saudi Arabia (£0.44) |
| Apple Music | £10.99 | 1st | UK (£10.99) | Saudi Arabia (£0.44) |
| Apple TV+ | £8.99 | 1st | UK (£8.99) | India (£0.88) |
| Netflix | £12.99 | 2nd | US (£13.49) | Saudi Arabia (£0.98) |
| Amazon Prime | £8.99 | 2nd | US (£11.24) | South Africa (£0.64) |
| Disney+ | £8.99 | 2nd | Mexico (£9.46) | Saudi Arabia (£0.86) |
| Microsoft 365 | £84.99 | 4th | Japan (£110.76) | Saudi Arabia (£8.58) |
| Adobe Creative Cloud | £56.98 | 6th | Sweden (£61.22) | Saudi Arabia (£4.99) |
Each country’s price was converted to British pound sterling and ranked per online service from highest to lowest.
Amazon Prime shows similar disparities. UK subscribers pay £8.99 monthly, the second highest rate after the US (£11.24). South African users enjoy the service for just £0.64 per month, making the UK price 14 times higher. Additionally, Disney+ subscriptions cost UK users £8.99 monthly, second only to Mexico where the service costs £9.46. Saudi Arabian subscribers pay just £0.86.
Microsoft 365 places the UK fourth most expensive globally at £84.99 yearly. Japanese subscribers face the highest costs at £110.76, while Saudi Arabians pay just £8.58 annually – nearly ten times less than British users. For Adobe Creative Cloud, UK subscribers pay £56.98 monthly, ranking sixth worldwide. Swedish users face the steepest costs at £61.22, while Indian subscribers pay just £17.04 – roughly 30% of the UK price.
Apple TV+ sees UK subscribers paying £8.99 monthly, tied as the most expensive with the US, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Greece. This is 10 times more than Indian users, who pay just £0.88.
The overall findings show that UK consumers are paying a significant premium for digital services compared to users in other countries. Such are the vagaries of market dynamics.
The question is, will UK consumers start to refuse to pay what are relatively exorbitant costs?
