UK cinema admissions, September 2009

Britain is suffering the longest period of recession since records began according to figures published yesterday by the ONS, which show the economy shrank by 0.4% between July and September. Tough times, indeed.

So it comes as heartening news that the cinema business, at least, is showing signs of continued resilience.

Admissions totalled 9,703,035 in September, according to the Cinema Advertising Association, bringing the year-to-date total to 128,744,651. This marks a rise of nearly 3% on the number of tickets sold in the same period last year.

The total for 2009 has now slipped just behind that of 2002, but remains higher than at any other time since. At this rate 2009 admissions should finish somewhere north of 172 million by close of the year.

Figure 1: UK cinema admissions, January to September 2002 to 2009

Source: CAA/Nielsen EDI