Global cinema attendance fell in 2024 for the first time since the pandemic

By The New Obs with AFP

Published on May 16, 2025 at 8:59 p.m.

A movie theater in Paris, October 11, 2024. CHANG MARTIN/SIPA

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The number of tickets sold in cinemas worldwide will fall by 8.8% in 2024 compared to 2023, a first since Covid, the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) revealed during a conference at the Cannes Film Market on Friday, May 16.

"In 2024, a total of 4.8 billion cinema tickets will be sold worldwide, generating an estimated revenue of €28 billion," said Martin Kanzler of the OAS. "That's 500 million fewer tickets than in 2023," he said.

Since 2020, a dark year for cinemas due to health restrictions, attendance at movie theaters has only increased worldwide. "Perhaps we have reached a new plateau," Martin Kanzler suggested.

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Cinema attendance reached 68% of 2019, the last year before the pandemic, compared to more than 70% in 2023.

81% of films produced in three countries

In this sluggish environment, Europe is holding up better than other regions of the world. Cinema attendance is 75% of 2019 levels, and the number of tickets sold is expected to decline by only 1.7% in 2024.

Conversely, in China, the world's largest market with a 21% market share, the drop in attendance reached 22%.

In Europe, two countries stand out for their density of movie theaters per capita and a high average attendance rate: France and Ireland.

Regarding productions, "the vast majority of them, 81% to be precise, are linked to films produced in three countries," namely the United States, China and India , said Manuel Fioroni, an analyst at the OAS.

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Unlike Chinese and Indian productions, which are almost exclusively sold in their domestic markets, American films are exported and "easily cross borders thanks to their distribution network but also their international audience."

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In Europe, 63% of viewers saw an American film in 2024. But European productions are closing in on the gap, recording a 33% market share. "This is the best result in four years, and even ten years if we exclude the pandemic year of 2020," noted Manuel Fioroni.

Of the 20 biggest box office hits in Europe, 18 films are American. "Inside Out 2 , " "Despicable Me 4," and "Deadpool & Wolverine" occupy the podium. The two European productions in the top 20 are French: "A Little Something Extra" and "The Count of Monte Cristo."

By The New Obs with AFP