Romania A positive momentum for the film market

Retail & leisure

27 June 2024

Opr./edited by ANZ

Dana Radoveneanu, head of Retail Agency, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox

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Romanians spent EUR 63 mln in cinemas last year, an amount 25 pct higher compared with 2022, as ticket prices also recorded a 8.2 pct y-o-y increase, according to the data offered by the Romanian Film Center and analyzed by the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The total number of tickets sold reached 13.02 mln in 2023, a 16 pct increase compared with 2022, and only slightly below the 2019 level, when 13.1 mln cinema tickets were purchased in Romania.

In terms of box office, cinema operators reported a 25 pct increase compared with 2022, reaching 308.8 mln lei (~EUR 63 mln). This also represents an increase vs. 2019, when the previous record level of 265 mln lei (~EUR 56 mln) was recorded. It must also be mentioned that the average ticket price surged from 20 lei to 23.7 lei in the 2019-2023 period. Romania had 103 cinemas across the country at the end of last year, compared with 95 in 2022.

The data includes both single-screen cinemas and multiplexes, with the latter accounting for over 96 pct of the box office and for 94 pct the total attendance.

The number of cinema visits per capita also recorded a growth in 2023 vs. 2022, from 0.59 to 0.68, reaching the level registered in 2019.

The largest cinematographic markets in Romania are: Bucharest (4,132,145 spectators in 2023), Cluj-Napoca (857,806), Timisoara (811,978), Constanta (736,424) and Brasov (625,608), cities which have a combined attendance share of 55 pct at national level.

The evolution of the Romanian cinematographic market is highly impressive considering that 2023 was marked by a record inflation, which had a clear impact on the Romanians’ purchasing power and which had softened the retailers and shopping centres’ revenue growth rates. The shrinking inflation, already visible in the retail sales’ dynamics, but also the increase of the multiplex supply through the development of new shopping centers or the expansion of existing ones, will all contribute towards creating a positive momentum for the film market in the coming period.
Dana Radoveneanu, head of Retail Agency, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox

In terms of the Romanian counties with the highest number of visits per capita, Brasov (2.37 visits per capita in 2023), Bucharest (1.82), Braila (1.54) Cluj (1.26), Timis (1.24), Iasi (1.21) and Constanta (0.93) rank highly. The counties with the highest use and occupancy of existing cinema infrastructure are Iasi (1.44 spectators/ seat/ day), Dolj (0.83 spectators/ seat/ day), Bihor (0.78 spectators/ seat/ day), followed by, Alba (0.72 spectators/seat/day) and Brasov (0.51 spectators/ seat/day). The corresponding number in Bucharest was of 0.46 spectators/ seat/ day, below the level reported in 2022.