DVD statistics are best understood through the wider physical-video market, because the available UK and international series combine DVD with Blu-ray and other physical formats. In the UK, all-category retail video sales fell from 162.2 million units in 2013 to 17.2 million in 2022. UK film physical-video sales declined from 119.0 million units to 13.077136 million over the same period, while physical-video rentals fell from 38.375271 million transactions to 1.758299 million.
Contents
- UK retail-video scale
- Film sales and prices
- Rental decline
- Genre mix
- Leading UK titles
- U.S. and global context
UK retail-video scale
The BFI’s retail-video series covers the United Kingdom and all retail-video categories, rather than DVD-only sales. It therefore provides a broad measure of the market in which DVDs were sold. Retail video sales were 162.2 million units in 2013, 143.0 million in 2014, 119.6 million in 2015, and 100.6 million in 2016. The series then recorded 82.7 million units in 2017, 64.6 million in 2018, 48.2 million in 2019, 34.1 million in 2020, 21.1 million in 2021, and 17.2 million in 2022. These are observed unit totals, not forecasts.
| Year | UK retail video sales, all categories |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 162.2 million units |
| 2015 | 119.6 million units |
| 2017 | 82.7 million units |
| 2019 | 48.2 million units |
| 2021 | 21.1 million units |
| 2022 | 17.2 million units |
The complete BFI sequence shows a lower total in every listed year after 2013: 2014 had 143.0 million units, 2016 had 100.6 million, 2018 had 64.6 million, and 2020 had 34.1 million. Because the table includes all retail-video categories, these figures should not be presented as DVD-only adoption or DVD-only purchases.
Source: Film on physical video – data tables (BFI Statistical Yearbook 2023).
Film sales and prices
The BFI film series narrows the subject to film physical video, but it still combines DVD, Blu-ray and other physical formats. UK film physical-video retail sales were 119.0 million units in 2013 and 110.0 million in 2014. They fell to 89.0 million in 2015, 75.0 million in 2016, and 62.0 million in 2017. The corresponding totals were 51.0 million units in 2018, 39.0 million in 2019, 25.799 million in 2020, 15.510672 million in 2021, and 13.077136 million in 2022.
| Year | UK film physical-video sales |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 119.0 million units |
| 2014 | 110.0 million units |
| 2015 | 89.0 million units |
| 2016 | 75.0 million units |
| 2017 | 62.0 million units |
| 2018 | 51.0 million units |
| 2019 | 39.0 million units |
| 2020 | 25.799 million units |
| 2021 | 15.510672 million units |
| 2022 | 13.077136 million units |
Reported average retail prices moved upward even as unit sales declined. The average UK retail price per film physical-video unit was £8.60 in 2018, equivalent to £9.81 in 2022 prices after inflation adjustment. It was £8.85 in 2019, or £9.88 in 2022 prices; £9.05 in 2020, or £9.52 in 2022 prices; and £9.44 in 2021, or £9.95 in 2022 prices. In 2022, the nominal average was £10.61 per unit. These prices cover film physical video, not DVD alone, and the inflation-adjusted comparisons use 2022 pounds.
Source: Film on physical video – data tables (BFI Statistical Yearbook 2023).
Rental decline
Rental statistics show a separate collapse in physical access. The BFI’s UK film physical-video rental table combines DVD, Blu-ray and other physical formats. It recorded 38.375271 million rental transactions in 2013 and 22.883831 million in 2014. The total declined to 17.829086 million in 2015, 12.454220 million in 2016, and 9.375531 million in 2017.
The later observations were 6.801496 million transactions in 2018, 4.923819 million in 2019, 3.393459 million in 2020, 2.521200 million in 2021, and 1.758299 million in 2022. A transaction is a rental event, not a unique renter or a count of discs owned. The series therefore describes rental activity in the United Kingdom, not household DVD ownership or individual participation.
Source: Film on physical video – data tables (BFI Statistical Yearbook 2023).
Genre mix
The BFI’s 2022 genre figures describe shares of UK film physical-video sales across formats. They are not DVD-only shares and do not measure viewing time. Action/adventure was the largest named category at 28.68% of sales. Drama accounted for 14.589%, followed by science fiction at 9.837% and horror at 9.799%.
Children’s animation represented 9.479% of sales, comedy 9.143%, and child/family films 6.804%. Smaller listed categories were thrillers at 4.679%, war films at 2.149%, and musicals at 2.061%.
| Genre | Share of UK physical-video film sales, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Action/adventure | 28.68% |
| Drama | 14.589% |
| Science fiction | 9.837% |
| Horror | 9.799% |
| Children’s animation | 9.479% |
| Comedy | 9.143% |
| Child/family | 6.804% |
| Thrillers | 4.679% |
| War | 2.149% |
| Musicals | 2.061% |
The figures show how sales were distributed among the reported genres in one year. They do not establish that a particular genre was more watched, more profitable, or more common specifically on DVD.
Source: Film on physical video – data tables (BFI Statistical Yearbook 2023).
Leading UK titles
The 2022 BFI ranking covers UK physical-video film titles across formats and reports position, not units sold or revenue. Top Gun: Maverick ranked first, followed by Spider-Man: No Way Home in second and No Time to Die in third. Dune ranked fourth, while The Batman ranked fifth.
The next five positions were Downton Abbey: A New Era in sixth, Jurassic World: Dominion in seventh, Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore in eighth, Elvis in ninth, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage in tenth.
This ranking indicates which titles led the measured physical-video chart in the United Kingdom during 2022. It cannot be used to infer a DVD-only ranking, title-level unit totals, or title-level revenue.
Source: Film on physical video – data tables (BFI Statistical Yearbook 2023).
U.S. and global context
International market figures use a broader definition than the UK film tables. The Motion Picture Association’s 2021 THEME Report, using MPA/Omdia and DEG estimates, combines Blu-ray and DVD within physical sales and rentals. It also combines movie and television content within home/mobile entertainment spending.
Global home/mobile entertainment spending was estimated at $43.4 billion in 2017, $50.3 billion in 2018, and $55.7 billion in 2019. The estimate rose to $68.7 billion in 2020 and $78.5 billion in 2021. These totals include digital and physical disc methods, so they are not a DVD market-size series.
| Geography and measure | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global home/mobile entertainment | $43.4bn | $50.3bn | $55.7bn | $68.7bn | $78.5bn |
| U.S. physical home/mobile entertainment | $6.8bn | $5.8bn | $4.7bn | $3.5bn | $2.8bn |
For the United States, physical home/mobile entertainment spending was estimated at $6.8 billion in 2017, $5.8 billion in 2018, $4.7 billion in 2019, $3.5 billion in 2020, and $2.8 billion in 2021. The U.S. physical measure includes packaged-goods sell-through and physical rental, including Blu-ray and DVD.
The global total and U.S. physical total answer different questions: one covers digital and physical entertainment worldwide, while the other isolates physical home/mobile entertainment in the United States. Both are source estimates, and neither should be relabeled as DVD-only spending.
Taken together, the series describe a transition in how home video was measured. The UK observations show shrinking physical unit sales, shrinking rental activity, and a changing average price for the physical film units that remained. The genre and title tables add detail about the composition of that remaining market, but they do not measure the installed base of DVD players, the number of households with discs, or the number of hours watched. The international estimates provide useful market context, yet their inclusion of digital content means they should be read as home-entertainment indicators rather than direct DVD demand measures.
For comparisons, the definitions matter as much as the year. A UK retail-video unit can cover categories beyond film; a UK film physical-video unit can cover formats beyond DVD; a rental transaction records an event rather than a person; and a chart position does not reveal units or revenue. The U.S. and global figures also use different geographies and scopes. Keeping those distinctions explicit prevents a broad physical-media statistic from being mistaken for a precise DVD-only estimate.
Source: 2021 THEME Report.