Global box office revenue 2005-2021

In 2021, the global box office revenue added up to 21.3 billion U.S. dollars, up from 11.8 billion dollars a year earlier – an annual growth of 80.5 percent. Still, the 2021 figure amounted to little more than half of the 42.3-billion-dollar revenue recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Will the U.S. movie market recover?

Altogether, Canada and the United States (including the unincorporated territories of Guam and Puerto Rico) form what is known as the North American film market. This region is recovering at a slower pace than the global average. In 2021, the North American box office revenue amounted to 4.48 billion dollars. This represents less than 40 percent of the 11.32-billion-dollar result reported two years before.

The Asian film industry

In 2021, China consolidated its upper hand in the global movie market. The country had already placed first in the worldwide ranking of box office revenues in 2020 when it first surpassed the U.S. and Canada. India is also on the rise. As Bollywood movies become more popular out of the country, their performances at the box offices across the world reach dozens of billions of Indian rupees.