Movie ticket statistics show a recovering but uneven cinema market. In 2024, U.S. and Canadian cinemas sold 760 million tickets, while European cinema attendance exceeded 861 million tickets in 2023; average prices and film-market concentration varied substantially by geography and company.
Key Movie Ticket Statistics
The following figures summarize the most useful measures across attendance, pricing, theater operations and film markets:
- In 2024, 760 million movie tickets were sold in the United States and Canada.
- In 2024, U.S./Canada box-office revenue was $8.746 billion.
- In 2024, the average U.S./Canada movie ticket cost $11.51.
- In 2023, U.S./Canada attendance was 833 million admissions.
- In 2019, U.S./Canada attendance was 1.244 billion admissions before the pandemic disruption.
- From 2014 to 2024, the average U.S./Canada ticket price rose from $8.19 to $11.51.
- In 2024, AMC recorded 224.2 million patrons worldwide.
- In 2024, AMC’s U.S. attendance was 156.9 million patrons.
- In 2024, Cinemark recorded 201.1 million patrons worldwide.
- In 2024, Cinemark’s consolidated average ticket price was $7.57.
- In 2023, wider European cinema attendance exceeded 861 million tickets.
- In 2023, wider-European gross box office reached EUR 6.7 billion.
- In 2023, EU27 plus the United Kingdom sold 784 million cinema tickets.
- In 2023, European films accounted for 26.4% of wider-European admissions.
- In 2023, American titles accounted for 70.1% of wider-European admissions.
- In 2023, 68% of admissions to European films occurred in their country of origin.
- In 2023, only 41 European films exceeded one million admissions.
- In 2023, heritage films generated 12.2 million European admissions.
Contents
- North American movie ticket attendance, revenue and price trends
- AMC movie ticket statistics
- Cinemark movie ticket statistics
- European movie ticket attendance and box-office recovery
- Movie ticket statistics by film origin and market concentration
- European film distribution, blockbusters and heritage audiences
North American Movie Ticket Attendance, Revenue and Price Trends
The U.S./Canada figures below describe theatrical exhibition across both countries. They are industry measures reported in AMC’s 2024 annual filing, with box-office revenue data attributed there to Comscore.
| Calendar year | Box-office revenue | Attendance | Average ticket price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | — | 1.244 billion | $9.16 |
| 2020 | $2.205 billion | — | — |
| 2023 | $9.034 billion | 833 million | $10.84 |
| 2024 | $8.746 billion | 760 million | $11.51 |
Source: AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. 2024 Form 10-K. The 2020 revenue figure reflects a pandemic-disrupted year; the averages are nominal and blend ticket types and theater formats.
Attendance fell from 1.244 billion admissions in 2019 to 833 million in 2023 and 760 million in 2024. The average ticket price moved in the opposite direction, from $9.16 in 2019 to $10.84 in 2023 and $11.51 in 2024, while the longer series rose from $8.19 in 2014 to $11.51 in 2024.
The measures should not be read as a simple price list. An industry average can include standard tickets, premium formats, discounts, subscriptions and other ticket categories, and the reported amounts are not inflation-adjusted.
AMC Movie Ticket Statistics
AMC’s company metrics cover its global theater portfolio, so they are not interchangeable with North American industry admissions. At December 31, 2024, AMC operated 871 theaters and 9,798 screens worldwide.
| AMC measure | 2023 | 2024 | Change or definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated attendance | 239.5 million | 224.2 million | Down 6.4% |
| U.S. attendance | 169.4 million | 156.9 million | Down 7.4% |
| International attendance | 70.1 million | 67.3 million | Down 4.0% |
| Consolidated average ticket price | — | $11.42 | 224.155 million patrons |
Source: AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. 2024 Form 10-K. AMC attributes the attendance decline partly to film availability and 2023 labor stoppages.
AMC’s consolidated average ticket price increased 1.7% in 2024, while its U.S. average ticket price increased 2.7%. The international average ticket price was not given as a standalone amount in the supplied measures, so the company and regional figures should not be merged.
Ancillary spending also rose, but it is separate from movie-ticket revenue. AMC U.S. food-and-beverage revenue per patron increased from $7.95 in 2023 to $8.30 in 2024, while international food-and-beverage revenue per patron increased from $4.60 to $4.80; exchange rates and local pricing affect the international comparison.
Cinemark Movie Ticket Statistics
Cinemark reports consolidated, U.S. and international operating measures. Its 2024 attendance declined from 2023, but ticket-price averages increased in the consolidated and U.S. segments.
| Cinemark measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2024 change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated attendance | 209.8 million | 201.1 million | Down 4.1% |
| Consolidated admissions revenue | — | $1.5225 billion | Down 2.1% |
| Consolidated average ticket price | $7.41 | $7.57 | Up 2.2% |
| U.S. attendance | 127.7 million | 122.9 million | Down 3.8% |
| U.S. average ticket price | $9.68 | $10.03 | Up 3.6% |
| International attendance | 82.1 million | 78.2 million | Down 4.8% |
Source: Cinemark Holdings, Inc. 2024 Form 10-K. The filing attributes some 2024 weakness to the Hollywood strikes’ effects on film releases.
Cinemark’s international average ticket price was $3.70 in 2024 versus $3.89 in 2023 on a reported-currency basis. In constant currency, the international average ticket price increased 42.2% to $5.53, a non-GAAP analytical presentation rather than reported-currency revenue.
Concession revenue per patron was $5.96 in 2024, up 4.9% from $5.68 in 2023. Concessions are separate from admissions revenue, just as AMC food-and-beverage measures are separate from ticket prices.
European Movie Ticket Attendance and Box-Office Recovery
The European Audiovisual Observatory uses more than one geographic definition. Wider Europe covers Council of Europe member states excluding Azerbaijan, while the EU27-plus-UK aggregate is narrower.
| Geography and measure | 2023 result | Change or benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Wider Europe attendance | More than 861 million tickets | Up 18.3% from 2022 |
| Wider Europe gross box office | EUR 6.7 billion | Up 22.3% from EUR 5.5 billion |
| Wider Europe attendance recovery | 77.3% of the 2017–2019 average | Multi-year comparison |
| EU27 plus UK attendance | 784 million admissions | Up 19.6% year over year |
| EU27 plus UK box office | EUR 6.2 billion | Up 22.1% year over year |
| EU27 plus UK recovery | 20.1% below 982 million | Compared with the pre-pandemic average |
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory, “GBO in Europe up to EUR 6.7 billion in 2023, cinema attendance reached 861 million tickets sold”. Gross box office is nominal, and the recovery ratios compare annual admissions with a three-year pre-pandemic average.
Country results were uneven. Ukraine’s attendance increased 60.1% in 2023 but remained at only 50% of its pre-pandemic level according to the Observatory; Italy increased 59.2%, while Turkey decreased 12.9% and stood at 46% of its pre-pandemic attendance.
Movie Ticket Statistics by Film Origin and Market Concentration
Film origin helps explain why regional attendance totals do not represent a single type of cinema. In wider Europe in 2023, European films accounted for 26.4% of tickets sold, while American titles accounted for 70.1%; classifications can be difficult for international co-productions.
European films represented between 5% and 10% of global admissions in each year from 2014 through 2023. In 2023, 92% of admissions to European films occurred within Europe and 68% occurred in the film’s country of origin, measures that concern European films specifically rather than all European cinema tickets.
The same report counted more than 3,300 European films available in theaters worldwide in 2023, but only 41 exceeded one million admissions. The number above that threshold was 43% below the report’s pre-pandemic level, whose exact benchmark year is not specified in the supplied summary.
French films made up 20% of European films on release and 33% of admissions to European films across 2014–2023. Those are decade-wide shares, not 2023-only measures.
European Film Distribution, Blockbusters and Heritage Audiences
European film admissions became more distributed across lower-attendance titles over the decade. Films with fewer than one million admissions grew from 37% of admissions to European films in 2014 to 65% in 2023.
Export success remained concentrated among a small group. Animation films made up half of the top 10 European films by export admissions in 2023, and the top two films in that ranking were both animations; this ranking is not the share of all admissions.
The Observatory also defines heritage films as films at least 10 years old. Heritage films generated 12.2 million European admissions in 2023, representing 1.5% of all European cinema admissions.
When counting films with at least 1,000 admissions, heritage films represented 21% of films on release in Europe in 2023. When films below 1,000 admissions were included, the estimate was around 30% of all films on release.
For context on concentration, U.S. blockbusters accounted for an estimated 32% of all cinema tickets sold in Europe in 2022, using the Observatory’s film-type classification. A later Observatory update reported that the 20 most-watched titles accounted for 39% of European cinema attendance in 2024.
The same report family estimated that admissions to European films in Europe increased 19%, from 233 million in 2023 to 276 million in 2024. The 2024 figure is an estimate, so it should not be treated as an audited final total.