A. Guttmann
Research Lead covering media
Cinema in Mexico - statistics & facts
Mexico is the absolute protagonist when it comes to cinema in the Latin American region. The box office revenue in Mexico amounted to 598 million dollars in 2022, compared to 354 million dollars in Brazil. Furthermore, Mexico's box office revenue surpassed that of Argentina, Colombia and seven more countries from the region altogether. The proximity to the U.S and Canada, the most prominent global cinema markets, has a positive effect on the Mexican industry, which benefits from the influx of Hollywood production money that powers the domestic production.
Mexican film industry as a whole is on track for recovery, albeit a slow one. Box office figures are the highest in Latin America and the country has a strong moviegoing culture, with audiences dedicated to domestic productions. This, in turn, translates to a profitable potential for national and international investors.
An avid audience
Consumer habits help to explain Mexico’s strong position compared to regional standard. Mexico ranked first – by far – in terms of movie theater attendance in Latin American countries in 2022. Just before the COVID-19 outbreak, the country recorded one of the highest cinema penetration rates in the region: nearly three out of 10 Mexicans said they went to the movies in 2019. That same year, attendance at domestic films' screenings in Mexico peaked at over 35 million tickets sold, only to plummet by about 80 percent in the following years amidst the global health crisis. Today, moviegoing in Mexico is far from the pre-pandemic levels but it shows signs of recovery and growth.Mexican movies on the global stage
Mexican movies remain a key item on the theatrical menu. Throughout most of the 2010s, and also into the 2020s, at least one-fifth of all feature films released in Mexico consisted of domestic productions. In 2023, these movies grossed more than 770 million Mexican pesos at the box offices across the country, close to double the amount recorded a year earlier. And their bankability knows no boundaries. Throughout the decade preceding the COVID-19 outbreak, Mexico's movie exports surpassed 100 per year. In 2022, however, the figure stood at just 49, leaving Mexico with the mission to come back with titles of the stature of "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006), "Instructions Not Included" (2013), or "Roma" (2018).Mexican film industry as a whole is on track for recovery, albeit a slow one. Box office figures are the highest in Latin America and the country has a strong moviegoing culture, with audiences dedicated to domestic productions. This, in turn, translates to a profitable potential for national and international investors.
