As a whole, it is VERYpopular in Latin America. Almost any YouTube video of it on the net has Spanish comments (yes, even the ones not in English). It is even her voice actress' most well-known role. One can confidently say that is Latin America's favourite Shōjo.
Candy♡Candy is wildly popular in Mexico, where Candy herself is considered an icon and given the same amount of reverence as politicians and celebrities. Affectionately dubbed "a telenovela for children", the tale of the "Tarzán pecosa" is beloved by people of all ages and demographics. It's not uncommon for diaspora Mexicans in the States to be shown the anime by their Immigrant Parents, or for bootleg CDs of the anime to get sold out at stores. It's still popular there to this day.
It is massive in Dominican Republic. Doubt it? When channel Rahintel was on the verge of declining, it received a spike in positive ratings after showing Candy♡Candy.
It is so beloved in Peru that they attempted to make a live action version of it.
It attained a cult-like following in Guatamela, where reruns were constantly being shown on two main channels (Channel 3 and 5) during the 80s and 90s. To this day you can still catch a rerun of it on Mixcovision.
Also a childhood favourite of many in El Salvador.
Candy♡Candy is also big in Ecuador, where it enjoys the same level of popularity as local shows.
Like many other Latin American countries, Candy♡Candy was massively popular in Colombia. Many Colombians compared it to a popular Mexican TV Drama series in their country La rosa de Guadalupe. Journalist Iván Samudio, suggested his own reasons for it's popularity.
Samudio: "We are talking about Candy breaking generational barriers. For example, my mother saw 'Candy Candy' when she was a child, and my partner also saw it when she was a child. Despite the generational gap, Candy remains beloved because it is a superdrama type akin to La rosa de Guadalupe. That is interesting because it shows that a while ago we Colombians had a sensitivity and attachment to melodrama, regardless of whether they were animated, as happens with Candy,"
It's also big in Venezuela, where it was shown over ten years in a row on Radio Caracas Televisión during the afternoon children's block. Radio Caracas Televisión is a channel known for showing telenovelas, so it quickly earned a shared fandom of women that enjoyed those types of shows.
Europe
It was also popular in France where it was the very first shojo ever seen, and young girls would often talk about it in school. Author Keiko Nagita even went to Paris to meet her French fans.
It's also huge in Catalonia.
It was so big in Italy that Italians received exclusive Compilation Movies and novelizations by Italian authors related to the series. The first two recapped the events of the series, but the last three were written by Italian authors and had completely different endings from the author's intentions.
A stellarhit in Greece. When it started airing in 1984 ERT 1 did not anticipate the level of success it would get, so when it reran in 1989, they stopped airing it weekly like they used to and instead started airing it daily. The manga was also released in Greece from 1986 to 1989, by Tataris Publications.
Middle East
It's quite popular (and still well-remembered) in Turkey. One of the biggest Candyfan-sites is even from there.
Asia
It's huge in South Korea, where it's subject to many parodies, and referenced in pop culture.note The most well-known example of this would be when Hyojung from Oh My Girl introduces herself as Candy Leader ("캔디리더"). It even got live-action movie in 1981 directed by Choi In-hyeon.
In Korea, cartoon characters that overcome great hardships are called "Candy-like protagonists" ('캔디형 주인공')
Indonesians also have a lot of love for Candy♡Candy. The manga was released there, and the opening and ending song have been dubbed into the language and are considered memorable by fans. In 2007, it was also made into a live actionsoap opera called Candy directed by Widi Wijaya.
Candy♡Candy is also well-remembered in Thailand by a generation of kids who grew up watching it in the 80s. The manga was also dubbed in Thai and released there in full-colour form.
popular