Movie industry statistics show a business spanning theatrical exhibition, home entertainment, streaming, production and distribution. The measures below distinguish worldwide and regional markets, calendar-year grosses, memberships, tracked shoot days and company-reported results.
Key Movie Industry Statistics
The following figures summarize the most broadly useful movie industry measures:
- $21.3 billion was the worldwide box office in 2021, up 81% from 2020 but 48% below 2017.
- $4.5 billion was the U.S./Canada box office in 2021, up 105% from 2020 and 59% below 2017.
- International markets represented 79% of worldwide box office in 2021, based on the reported market totals.
- The global box office fell from $42.3 billion in 2019 to $11.8 billion in 2020, before rising to $21.3 billion in 2021.
- Asia Pacific generated $10.9 billion in box office in 2021, up 89% from 2020.
- China generated $7.3 billion in international box office in 2021, including online ticketing fees.
- European cinema admissions exceeded 861 million tickets in 2023, up 18.3% from 2022.
- Wider European admissions reached 77.3% of the 2017–2019 average in 2023, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.
- More than 126,000 digital 3D screens operated worldwide in 2021, up 5% from 2020.
- The global home/mobile entertainment market reached $78.5 billion in 2021, up 14% from 2020.
- Netflix reported $39.001 billion in streaming revenue in 2024, up 16% from 2023.
- Netflix ended 2024 with 301.6 million paid memberships worldwide, after adding 41.35 million during the year.
- Greater Los Angeles recorded 23,480 on-location shoot days in 2024, down 5.6% from 2023.
- Los Angeles feature-film production rose 18.8% in 2024, while remaining 27.6% below its five-year average.
- AMC’s seven largest studio distributors supplied approximately 84% of U.S. admissions revenue in 2024, showing distributor concentration in one major exhibitor.
- Inside Out 2 earned $652,980,194 in 2024 calendar-year domestic gross, ranking first on The Numbers chart.
- Disney+ had approximately 123 million paid subscribers on September 28, 2024, while Disney+ Hotstar had approximately 36 million.
- Paramount+ subscribers increased from 67.5 million at the end of 2023 to 77.5 million at the end of 2024, according to Paramount’s reported figures.
Contents
- Global box office scale and recovery
- International movie industry data
- Cinema attendance, screens and 3D
- Home entertainment and streaming trends
- Film production and distribution economics
- Leading releases and company performance
Global Movie Industry Statistics: Box Office Scale and Recovery
The Motion Picture Association’s 2021 series places the pandemic shock in context. Worldwide box office reached $42.3 billion in 2019, fell to $11.8 billion in 2020, and increased to $21.3 billion in 2021; these are estimates, not admissions, and the series is not inflation-adjusted.
| Market | 2021 box office | Change from 2020 | Change from 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | $21.3 billion | +81% | -48% |
| U.S./Canada | $4.5 billion | +105% | -59% |
| International | $16.8 billion | +76% | -44% |
Source: 2021 THEME Report. MPA figures combine Comscore, Omdia, Digital Entertainment Group and MPA sources; closures, reopening dates and exchange rates affect comparisons.
International markets accounted for 79% of global box office in 2021. Global 3D box office was $1.4 billion, up 112% from 2020, and represented 7% of worldwide box office compared with 6% in 2020.
International Movie Industry Data by Region and Market
Regional recovery was uneven in 2021, and the reported dollar figures should not be read as identical local-currency trends.
| Region or market | 2021 box office | Reported comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Asia Pacific | $10.9 billion | +89% vs. 2020; -32% vs. 2017 |
| EMEA | $5.0 billion | +53% vs. 2020; -51% vs. 2017 |
| Latin America | $0.9 billion | +72% vs. 2020; -75% vs. 2017 |
| China | $7.3 billion | Largest international market |
| Japan | $1.5 billion | International box office |
| United Kingdom | $0.8 billion | International box office |
| France | $0.8 billion | International box office |
| South Korea | $0.5 billion | International box office |
| India | $0.5 billion | International box office |
Source: 2021 THEME Report. China’s figure includes online ticketing fees; regional estimates are reported in U.S. dollars.
Mexico’s box office increased 104% in 2021 versus 2020, while Brazil’s increased 17%. In Europe, the later observed 2023 results show gross box office of €6.7 billion across wider Europe, up 22.3% from €5.5 billion in 2022.
The European Audiovisual Observatory’s 2023 release reports €6.2 billion for the EU27 plus the United Kingdom, up 22.1%, and 784 million admissions, up 19.6%. Wider Europe exceeded 861 million admissions, up 18.3%, recovering to 77.3% of its 2017–2019 average; wider Europe excludes Azerbaijan.
Cinema Attendance, Screens and 3D Movie Statistics
Screen infrastructure and premium-format activity provide a different view from gross revenue. Worldwide digital 3D screens surpassed 126,000 in 2021, up 5% from 2020, and represented 61% of all digital screens under Omdia’s classification.
Asia Pacific digital 3D screens increased 8% in 2021. More than three out of four digital screens in the region were 3D, a rounded ratio rather than an exact percentage.
The global 2D box-office market was $19.9 billion in 2021, up 79% from 2020. The 3D market was $1.4 billion, still 83% below 2017.
Source: 2021 THEME Report. Pandemic closures affected screen classifications and comparisons.
Home Entertainment and Streaming Movie Industry Trends
Home and mobile entertainment was substantially larger than theatrical box office in the 2021 MPA estimate. The combined global market reached $78.5 billion, up 14% from 2020.
| Segment | 2021 value | Change from 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| International digital home/mobile | $42.5 billion | +24% |
| U.S. digital home/mobile | $29.5 billion | +11% |
| International physical home/mobile | $3.7 billion | -16% |
| U.S. physical home/mobile | $2.8 billion | -20% |
Source: 2021 THEME Report. The categories follow the report’s definitions.
Within the combined U.S. theatrical, home/mobile and pay-TV market, pay TV held 73% in 2021 and digital held 22%. The definition excludes set-top-box rental and installation fees.
Netflix provides a current company-level streaming measure. Its 2024 Form 10-K reports $39.001 billion in streaming revenue, up 16% from 2023, and $10.418 billion in operating income with a 27% operating margin.
Netflix ended 2024 with 301.6 million paid memberships worldwide after adding 41.35 million net memberships. U.S./Canada memberships reached 89.625 million, up 12% year over year; memberships are accounts under Netflix’s reporting definition, not unique viewers or people.
Film Production Activity and Distribution Economics
FilmLA recorded 23,480 Greater Los Angeles on-location shoot days in 2024, down 5.6% from 2023. Feature-film production rose 18.8%, but remained 27.6% below FilmLA’s five-year average.
Feature films accounted for 589 shoot days in the fourth quarter of 2024, up 82.4% year over year. The California Film & Television Tax Credit Program drove 19.2% of Q4 feature-film category activity.
Source: FilmLA Releases 2024 On-Location Production Report. Shoot days measure tracked on-location activity, not all production; reality-TV production is separate and fell 45.9% to 3,905 shoot days in 2024.
Distribution is concentrated for major exhibitors. AMC’s 2024 Annual Report states that its seven largest studio distributors supplied approximately 84% of U.S. admissions revenue in 2024.
The five largest European distributor groups supplied approximately 74% of AMC’s European box-office revenue. These are AMC-specific concentration measures, not estimates of the entire distribution market.
Leading Movie Releases and Company Performance Statistics
The Numbers’ 2024 chart ranks money earned during the calendar year in the United States and Canada, including films released earlier; it is not lifetime worldwide gross.
| Rank | Film | 2024 calendar-year domestic gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inside Out 2 | $652,980,194 |
| 2 | Deadpool & Wolverine | $636,745,858 |
| 3 | Wicked | $432,943,285 |
| 4 | Moana 2 | $404,017,489 |
| 5 | Despicable Me 4 | $361,004,205 |
| 6 | Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | $294,100,435 |
| 7 | Dune: Part Two | $282,709,065 |
Source: 2024 Top-Grossing Movies.
Company reports add scale beyond individual releases. Disney reported approximately 123 million Disney+ paid subscribers and approximately 36 million Disney+ Hotstar subscribers on September 28, 2024, and approximately 1,100 full-length live-action films plus 100 full-length animated films cumulatively through that date in its 2024 Annual Report.
Paramount reported $813 million in theatrical revenues in both 2024 and 2023. Its 2024 Form 10-K also shows Paramount+ subscribers rising from 67.5 million on December 31, 2023, to 77.5 million on December 31, 2024; these are company subscriber measures, not unique viewers.