profile

Porn-Producing Countries: 1

Although greatly restricted or banned outright in some parts of the world, adult entertainment is a far-reaching industry that prospers on several different continents. The adult entertainment industry is thriving in North and South America and is equally successful in parts of Asia and all over Europe. The places producing the least amount of adult entertainment include the few remaining communist countries, much of Africa (with the major exception of the small island nation of São Tomé) and countries that are under fundamentalist Islamic rule. But the number of countries that are, to some degree, producing erotic entertainment exceeds the number of countries that aren't. The following list takes a look at 10 countries that are major-league players in adult entertainment.

1.) United States
Despite being the home of the Christian Right and a country that many Europeans view as hopelessly prudish, the United States remains the top adult entertainment producer in the world and boasts powerhouse companies like Vivid Entertainment, Larry Flynt's Hustler/LFP, Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire, Wicked Pictures and Red Light District. While Los Angeles — especially the San Fernando Valley — dominates adult entertainment in the United States, not all American adult companies are totally L.A.-based. Playboy's corporate headquarters, for example, are in Chicago, and successful adult webmasters can be found in cities ranging from Miami to Boston to Seattle. Nonetheless, California's San Fernando Valley is without question the world's No. 1 destination for adult filmmaking, and the 818 area code is the home of a long list of other adult film and Internet heavyweights, as well as smaller adult operations.

2.) Brazil
Brazil not only exports telenovelas and samba recordings, it also boasts the largest adult entertainment industry in Latin America. São Paolo has so many adult film companies that it is considered the San Fernando Valley of South America, and Brazil has been attracting its share of American adult filmmakers who know that the Portuguese-speaking country has an abundance of adult actors who work for generally lower wages than their U.S. counterparts. The Brazilian adult industry has its own trade organization; headed by Evaldo Shiroma, the Brazilian Erotic Industry Association (Associação Brasileira das Empresas do Mercado Erótico e Sensual in Portuguese) is Brazil's equivalent to U.S.-based Free Speech Coalition.

3.) The Netherlands
It has been estimated that the Netherlands' adult entertainment industry generates an average of 150 million euros per year. There are numerous adult oriented companies in Holland; major ones include Erostream.nl and Midhold Media, whose CEO, Philippe van Ooteghem, is one of Europe's top adult industry executives. The Dutch government is quite tolerant of adult-oriented businesses as long as they pay their taxes, and the fact that the Dutch are generally fluent in English makes it very easy for adult entrepreneurs from the United States, Canada and the British Isles to do business there.

4.) Spain
Like Brazil, Spain is a heavily Catholic country that also has a large adult entertainment industry. Barcelona is the home of Private Media Group, which is one of the top adult-oriented companies in the world and the largest in Europe. Private CEO Berth Milton is considered the most important adult industry executive on the European continent. Much of the world's Spanish-language porn comes from Spain, a country where, according to a 2001 survey by the Internet monitoring company NetValue, 40 percent of Spanish home Internet users view adult websites on a regular basis.

5.) Japan
South Korea and Thailand are noteworthy players in adult entertainment, but the largest adult entertainment provider in what used to be called the Orient is, by far, Japan. Although Japan has fairly restrictive obscenity laws compared to Holland or Spain, adult entertainment is booming in that country. One thing that separates Japan from other major-league porn providers is the fact that in Japan, a lot of erotica is animated. Hentai, which is an adult-oriented form of animé (Japanese animation), is a major part of Japan's adult entertainment industry. Another unique aspect of Japanese porn is that it is officially illegal to show genitalia. Instead, genitals must be pixilated or otherwise obscured. Obscenity laws and all, Japan remains the No. 1 country for erotic animation.

In part two, we'll round out our list of the top ten porn-producing countries. Stay tuned!

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

profile

WIA Profile: Reba Rocket

As chief operating officer and chief marketing officer of Takedown Piracy, long at the forefront of intellectual property protection in adult entertainment, Rocket is dedicated to safeguarding the livelihoods of content creators and producers while fostering a more ethical and sustainable industry.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Protecting Content Ownership Rights When Using AI

In today’s digital age, content producers have more tools at their disposal than ever before. Among these tools, artificial intelligence (AI) content generation has emerged as a game changer, enabling creators to produce high-quality content quickly and efficiently.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
opinion

How Payment Orchestration Can Help Your Business

An emerging payment solution is making waves in the merchant world: the payment orchestration platform (POP). It’s quickly gaining traction as a powerful tool for managing online payments — but questions abound.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

Fine-Tuning Refund and Cancellation Policies

For adult websites, managing refunds and cancellations isn’t just about customer service. It’s a crucial factor in maintaining compliance with the regulations of payment processors and payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

Jonathan Corona ·
profile

WIA Profile: Laurel Bencomo

Born in Cambridge, England but raised in Spain, Laurel Bencomo initially chose to study business at the University of Barcelona simply because it felt familiar — both of her parents are entrepreneurs. She went on to earn a master’s degree in sales and marketing management at the EADA Business School, while working in events for a group of restaurants in Barcelona.

Women In Adult ·
profile

Gregory Dorcel on Building Upon His Brand's Signature Legacy

“Whether reflected in the storyline or the cast or even the locations, the entertainment we deliver is based on fantasy,” he elaborates. “Our business is not, and never has been, reality. People who are buying our content aren’t expecting reality, or direct contact with stars like you can have with OnlyFans,” he says.

Jeff Dana ·
opinion

How to Turn Card Brand Compliance Into Effective Marketing

In the adult sector, compliance is often treated as a gauntlet of mandatory checkboxes. While it’s true that those boxes need to be ticked and regulations must be followed, sites that view compliance strictly as a chore risk missing out on a bigger opportunity.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

A Look at the Latest AI Tools for Online Safety

One of the defining challenges for adult businesses is helping to combat the proliferation of illegal or nonconsensual content, as well as preventing minors from accessing inappropriate or harmful material — all the more so because companies or sites unable or unwilling to do so may expose themselves to significant penalties and put their users at risk.

Gavin Worrall ·
opinion

Know When to Drop Domains You Don't Need

Do you own too many domains? If so, you’re not alone. Like other things we accumulate, every registered domain means something to us. Sometimes a domain represents a dream project we have always wanted to do but have never quite gotten around to.

Juicy Jay ·
opinion

Understanding 'Indemnification' in Business Contracts

Clients frequently tell me that they didn’t understand — or sometimes, even read — certain portions of a contract because those sections appeared to be just “standard legalese.” They are referring, of course, to the specialized language used in legal documents, including contracts.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
Show More