Ireland movieing down the league of cinema-goers
Box office sales show we are no longer Europe’s top fans of big screen viewing
CINEMA admissions have still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, as new figures reveal we are no longer Europe’s most avid movie-goers.
There were 2.3 cinema admissions per capita in Ireland last year compared to 3.3 back in 2018, which at the time was more than any other nationality in Europe and over twice the EU average.
During the pandemic restrictions hit the cinema industry hard, with movietheatres here remaining closed for longer than most of their European counterparts.
Cinema-goers were also slow to return to the big screen once the lockdown had ended.
Despite box office receipts in 2023 topping €100million for the first time in four years, takings were still significantly down on pre-pandemic years, including 2018 when €117.4million was recorded.
And those figures are reflected in new data from industry analysts Omdia, which confirm a sizeable drop from prepandemic attendances.
In the 10 years prior to 2018 there was a steady decline in admissions per head.
In 2008 when the average Irish person went to the cinema more than four times a year, this country was just below Iceland with the second-highest number of movie-goers in the world.
However, despite that figure nearly halving 25 years later, Ireland is still joint sixth in the latest table alongside the United States.
And the third-highest European nation behind table-toppers Iceland, with 2.9 admissions per person, and France, with 2.7.
New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Korea were the only other nations to record higher cinema admissions per head than Ireland, according to the newly-released data.
PANDEMIC
Cassandra Joyce, group sales director at Pearl & Dean Ireland, said the 2023 figures, up from 2.1 admissions per head in 2022, prove that the industry has been rebounding well since the pandemic.
She also pointed out that admissions had soared by 80% in 2022, a further 8% in 2023 and by another 15% in the first quarter of this year.
She added: “Irish people have always had an enduring love of cinema.
“Cinema was consistently quoted by Irish people as one of the leisure activities they missed most during lockdowns.
“In fact, microwave popcorn sales hit an all-time high as we strove to recreate the cinema experience at home. So while some wondered if cinema would survive the pandemic, it actually proved just how much Irish people missed the cinema experience and how keen we were to return.
“This is clear from the huge growth in admissions post-pandemic.”
Meanwhile, further growth this year is expected ahead of the release of highly-anticipated blockbusters, including Despicable Me 4, Paddington in Peru and Joker: Folie a Deux.
It’s unlikely any of this year’s top movies will emulate the success of record-breaking Barbie.
The film took in around €9.9million last year to become the biggest box office hit of all time in this country.
The next top grossing film was Oppenheimer which brought in €6.4million and The Super Mario Bros Movie with €5.1million.