Ireland still to return to pre-pandemic levels of cinema attendance

Ireland is joint sixth in the latest table of the number of movie-goers in the world alongside the USA

Despite a bumper year at the box office, cinema admissions in Ireland have still not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

New data reveals that Irish people 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 movie theatres here remaining closed for longer than most of their European counterparts and cinema-goers slow to return to the big screen once the lockdown had ended.

Box office receipts topped €100m last year, the first time in four years that they reached such a height. It was largely driven by the success of Barbie and Oppenheimer during the summer months. However, takings were still down on pre-pandemic years, including 2018, when over €117m was recorded.

And those figures are reflected in new data from industry analysts Omdia, which confirm a sizeable drop from pre-pandemic attendance.

In the 10 years prior to 2018, there was a steady decline in admissions per head. Back 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 USA, 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.

2023 worldwide cinema admissions per head (source - Omdia):

• Iceland - 2.9 
• France - 2.7 
• New Zealand - 2.6 
• Hong Kong - 2.5 
• South Korea - 2.4 
• Ireland - 2.3, USA - 2.3
• Australia - 2.2 
• Estonia - 2.1 
• Netherlands - 1.8, UK - 1.8, Canada - 1.8, Mexico - 1.8

Meanwhile, further growth this year is expected ahead of the release of a number 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', which took in over €9.9m last year to become the biggest box office hit of all time in this country.

Oppenheimer, which saw Cork's own Cillian Murphy land an Oscar for Best Actor, was the second-highest grossing film in Ireland last year, taking in almost €6.5m.

The Super Mario Brothers Movie (€5.1m), Wonka (€3.997m), and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (€3.18m) complete the top five of last year's box office.