Nollywood is Booming

The Nigerian film industry, also popularly referred to as Nollywood, is prolific. 2019 saw a grand total of 700 films produced and censored, but as this infographic shows, that is nothing compared to the numbers being put down in 2020 and 2021.

According to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics, 2020 saw a massive 2,599 movies completed and the first half of 2021 shows a similar level of activity in the industry - 1,051 films were produced and censored by the end of Q2. In English-speaking West Africa, this has Nollywood ahead of both Hollywood and Bollywood in terms of releases.

Nigeria's largest city, the coastal metropolis of Lagos, was the most popular location in 2021, with 383 films produced there in the first two quarters. Onitsha on the Niger River was the second most popular, with 314, while the country's capital, Abuja, attracted 303 productions across the time period.