Cinemas in Romania sold some 11 million movie tickets last year, up by 8.1% compared to 2014. The growth was higher than the EU average of 7.6%, but significantly lower than in previous years.

In 2014, Romania recorded a 12.4% increase in movie ticket sales, the highest in the EU.

Last year, Romania was outpaced by other countries in the region such as Poland, which saw a 10.5% increase in movie ticket sales (to 44.7 million), the Czech Republic – up by 12.1% (to 13 million), and Hungary – up by 18.3% (to 13 million), according to data released by the European Audiovisual Observatory.

In Germany, the movie ticket sales increased by 14.4%, to over 139 million, and the UK recorded a 9.2% increase, to 172 million admissions. Finland and Portugal saw increases of more than 20%. However, France, the biggest market in terms of sales, saw a 1.4% decline in cinema admissions, to 206 million.

Overall, the cinema attendance in the EU reached 980 million, which is the highest level in the last six years. Only in 2009 did cinemas in the EU sell more tickets (982 million) boosted by Avatar and the novelty factor of 3D.

Most EU countries also saw significant increases in terms of box-office revenues. In Romania, the movie ticket sales totaled some EUR 45 million in 2015, up by 8% compared to 2014, as the ticket prices remained flat.

In most EU countries, the box-office revenues increased more than the number of tickets sold, as the prices also went up.

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editor@romania-insider.com