Swedish cinema attendance fell by 1% to 15.2 million admissions in 2007, although local productions managed to increase market share.

Local films pulled in 3.2 million spectators last year, for a market share of 21.1%, compared to admissions of 2.9 million for a 18.8% market share in 2006. However, the number of film releases declined from 44 to 30.

'Figures confirm there is a strong interest for local cinema, which will be further pushed by a number of strong releases waiting in the pipeline - including our recent Sundance winner,' said Swedish Film Institute managing director Cissi Elwin, referring to Jens Jonsson's King Of Ping Pong.

'It is also a pleasure to see that in spite of all the new ways of watching films, the cinema has maintained its position - theatrical ticket sales are at the same level today as ten years ago,' Elwin added.

According to statistics for 2007 published by the institute, Swedish attendance is up 4% on the 2005 low of 14.6 million.

The capital of Stockholm follows the country average, while Göteborg is 7% above, following the opening of SF Bio's Bergakungen multiplex. The demise of the Astoria Cinemas contributed to a 7% decline in Malmo.

The domestic top grosser was Göta Kanal 2-Kanalkampen, which was released at Christmas 2006. Peter Flinth's Arn - The Knight Templar, which is Scandinavia's most expensive film project so far, made it into the Swedish 2007 top ten. Six Swedish films are among the 25 favourites of the year.

Swedish 2007 Top Ten Films:

1. Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End (BVI Sweden) 871,965 admissions

2. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (Sandrew Metronome) 739,245

3. Ratatouille (BVI Sweden) 681,338

4. Spider-Man 3 (Sony Pictures Releasing International) 448,258

5. The Simpsons Movie (Fox) 477,413

6. Shrek The Third (UIP/Paramount) 546,402

7. Arn - The Knight Templar (SW/Svensk Filmindustri) 416,006

8. Die Hard 4.0 (Fox) 292,703

9. Night At The Museum (Fox) 324,949

10. The Departed (Sandrew Metronome) 266,893

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