Korean Content Dominates Netflix in First Half of 2025

Korean entertainment, particularly the 'Squid Game' series, has made a significant impact on Netflix in the first half of 2025. On July 18, Netflix released its engagement report, revealing that total viewing hours reached approximately 95 billion. Notably, popular Netflix original series continue to thrive years after their release, with nearly half of the viewing hours for original content coming from shows released in 2023 or earlier. Classics like Orange Is the New Black, Ozark, and Money Heist each garnered over 100 million viewing hours in the first half of 2025 alone.

This year, a variety of Korean content, including series and animations, has gained prominence. 'Squid Game' Seasons 2 and 3 both ranked among the top 10 most popular series of the first half of the year, accumulating a staggering 231 million views across all seasons. Season 3, which premiered on June 27, recorded approximately 72 million views by June 30, the end of the reporting period.

'Squid Game' Season 3 achieved a remarkable feat by topping the Netflix charts in all 93 countries where the platform tracks its Top 10, making it the first show to reach number one in every country during its debut week.

Another hit, 'Poksak Sogassuda,' set against the backdrop of Jeju Island, follows the adventurous lives of characters Aesoon and Gwansik, attracting around 35 million views in the first half of the year. Other popular titles include 'Severe Trauma Center' (중증외상센터) with 34 million views, 'Weak Hero Class 1' (약한영웅 Class 1) with 22 million, and 'Weak Hero Class 2' (약한영웅 Class 2) with 20 million views.

The animated film 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' has also made waves, racking up about 37 million views in less than a month since its release, leveraging the global K-pop phenomenon. The fictional K-pop bands featured in the film have seen their music climb the charts on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, with the soundtrack currently ranking as the highest movie soundtrack on the 2025 Billboard 200.

Despite the success of these Korean titles, Netflix owns less than 15% of the intellectual property rights for the Korean content featured in the report, consistent with last year. This indicates Netflix's strategy of expanding the global reach of diverse Korean content through original productions, pre-buys, and licensing.

The report also highlights the strength of non-English content, which accounted for over a third of total viewing hours. Among the 25 most-watched series of the first half, 10 were non-English titles, reinforcing Netflix's belief that great stories can come from anywhere and its commitment to collaborating with local creators.

European series such as 'Adolescence' from the UK (145 million views), 'Secrets We Keep' from Denmark (34 million), and 'The Åre Murders' from Sweden (33 million) also gained popularity during this period.

In its efforts to provide a diverse viewing experience, Netflix has offered a wide range of content, from series and films to animations. WWE, which began airing live events in January in North America and Europe, recorded 280 million viewing hours in the first half of the year. In the animation category, titles like 'Sakamoto Days Season 1' (24 million views), 'Naruto' (45 million views across seasons), and Studio Ghibli classics like 'Spirited Away' and 'Howl's Moving Castle' (6 million views each) also performed well.

Kids and family content thrived as well, with 'Ms. Rachel Season 1' (53 million views), the French animation 'Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight' (16 million), and 'Gabby's Dollhouse' (108 million views across seasons) gaining traction. In the comedy genre, 'Running Point' (41 million views) and 'The Four Seasons' (39 million views) were well-received globally.

The global viewing report, which tracks all original and licensed works with at least 50,000 hours of viewing, is released biannually, with Netflix also providing weekly Top 10 lists. The next comprehensive global viewing report will be published in December 2023.