European admissions down in 2012; market share up 5.6%

Attendance fell in the European Union in 2012 while market share for European films grew, according to the latest report from the European Audiovisual Observatory.

Overall, attendance fell by 2.2% down to 933.3m admissions in the Union with marked differences across European countries. Finland and Romania grew by 19.7% and 15.4%, respectively, while the UK remained stable but France fell 6.3% despite selling the most tickets in the EU at 203.4m.

Despite this, attendance for European films within the EU grew by 12% to around 313m admissions, boosted by the success of majority UK co-production Skyfall, bringing the market share of European films within the EU to 33.6% - the highest level of the century.

The overall drop in admissions didn’t prevent gross box office reaching a record high for the second year running at €6.47bn, achieved partly due to increased ticket prices as a result of 3D releases. Average ticket price across the EU in 2012 was €6.90.

2012 also saw 21,693 digital screens installed across the EU by the end of the year, with the UK and France leading the digital markets at 93% and 92% digital penetration, respectively.