Global cinema attendance

Cinema ticket sales decreased by 8.8 percent globally in 2024 compared to the previous year, marking the first annual decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) in Cannes on May 15.

This drop follows years of recovery for the industry after the downturn caused by pandemic restrictions in 2020.

"In 2024, a total of 4.8 billion cinema tickets were sold globally, generating estimated revenues of 28 billion euros," Martin Kanzler, a film analyst at the EAO, stated during a press conference.

Cinema attendance has now reached 68 percent of 2019 levels, the last year before the pandemic, compared to over 70 percent in 2023.

In this slow market, Europe is performing better than other regions, with cinema attendance at 75 percent of 2019 levels, and ticket sales declining by only 1.7 percent in 2024.

Conversely, in China, the world's largest market with a 21 percent share, attendance dropped by 22 percent.

In Europe, France and Ireland stand out for their high density of cinemas per capita and high average attendance rates.