Movie theater attendance in France 2003-2023
In 2023, 180.4 million cinema tickets were sold in France. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the number of cinema tickets sold in the country kept increasing and peaked at more than 213.2 million in 2019. 2020 recorded the lowest value yet due to the coronavirus pandemic that led to the closure of cinemas.
A growing industry
Just like the number of ticket sales, the number of seats has increased in the country and reached 1.16 million seats in 2022, compared to 1.05 in 2009. In 2023, there were more than 6,300 active cinema screens in France, also a growing number over the past decade. But screens are not the only increasing element within the French cinema industry: the number of feature films produced in France is also growing. Proud of its so-called “cultural exception”, France produced 298 national feature movies in 2023, while local movies represent a significant part of ticket sales in the country.
Moviegoers in France
In a survey from 2024, almost half of French people declared that they went to the movies at least once every month. Despite the development of online streaming, the French seem to enjoy the experience of going to a movie theater. In 2023, Avatar: The Way of Water, the most successful movie in France, recorded more than 63 million euros of box office revenue. France recorded one of the highest domestic movies' share in cinema attendance in Europe, with more than a third of movies.
