Global cinema attendance drops in 2024
[CANNES] Cinema ticket sales fell 8.8 per cent worldwide in 2024 from the previous year, marking the first annual drop since the Covid pandemic, the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) said in Cannes on Friday (May 16).
The decline comes after years of recovery for the industry since the collapse triggered by pandemic restrictions in 2020.
'In 2024, a total of 4.8 billion cinema tickets were sold worldwide, generating estimated revenues of 28 billion euros (S$40.7 billion),' Martin Kanzler, a film analyst at EAO, said in a press conference on the sidelines of annual film festival.
'That is 500 million fewer tickets than in 2023.'
Since 2020 – a disastrous year for cinemas due to health restrictions – cinema attendance worldwide had been rising.
'Perhaps we have reached a new plateau,' Kanzler said.
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Cinema attendance is now at 68 per cent of 2019 levels, the last year before the pandemic, compared with more than 70 per cent in 2023.
In this sluggish environment, Europe is faring better than other regions of the world, with cinema attendance at 75 per cent of 2019 levels, and the decline in ticket sales was just 1.7 per cent in 2024.
By contrast, in China – the world's largest market with a 21 per cent share – attendance plunged by 22 per cent.
In Europe, two countries stand out for their density of cinemas per capita and a high average attendance rate – France and Ireland.
Regarding productions, 81 per cent are linked to films produced in three countries – the US, China and India, said Manuel Fioroni, an analyst at EAO.
Unlike Chinese and Indian productions, which are sold almost exclusively to their domestic markets, American films are exported and 'cross borders easily thanks to their distribution network but also their international audience'.
'Transnational distribution across macro regions remain difficult for theatrical films, with the exception of Hollywood movies, that can travel easily across borders through their distribution network, but also to international audiences,' Fioroni said.
In Europe, 63 per cent of cinemagoers saw an American film in 2024.
However, European productions are catching up and recorded a 33 per cent market share.
'And this is the best result in four years, even 10 if we exclude somehow the typical year that was 2020 in the middle of the pandemic,' Fioroni said.
Of the 20 biggest box office hits in Europe, 18 are American films. Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Deadpool & Wolverine took the top three spots. AFP
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