Laura Carollo
Research expert covering cinema and film
Film industry in Spain - statistics & facts
The Iberian country is one of the most dynamic and biggest cinema markets in Europe. In 2023, box office revenue in Spain stood at 493 million euros, paving the way for a swifter comeback after the pandemic. The annual number of movie tickets sold in Spain followed a similar pattern, amounting to just below 77 million as of 2023, about 30 million less than the attendance seen in 2019. Despite reaching a record-low 1.6 percent in 2021, the share of Spaniards going to the cinema weekly surpasses even pre-pandemic levels.
A strong domestic market
Despite the obstacles to theatrical distribution, filmmaking became more affordable in 2023. The average cost of producing a movie in Spain decreased to three million euros, slightly below the 3.5-million budget recorded the year prior. A rise in quantity followed the reduction in expenses. The number of feature films made in Spain indeed reached an all-time high in 2023, at 375. As of 2023, the comedy “Campeones” was the highest-grossing Spanish movie of the year, with 11.89 million euros garnered in total.An active and young audience
One of the decisive factors in the Spanish film industry's recovery is the public's willingness to return to the cinema, especially younger cinema-goers. It was likely that those movies were watched mostly by people born around the early 2000s. In 2021, the cinema penetration rate was higher among people aged between 20 and 24 years, at about 12 percent – representing about 20 percent of all movie-goers. Other than that, only the 14-19 and 25-34 age groups had shares above two percent in Spain.What to expect from Spanish moviemaking?
Following the production boom, the movie sector in Spain was projected to skyrocket during the first half of the 2020s. According to forecasts, Spain's filmed entertainment revenue will increase by about 66 percent between 2001 and 2026 – one of the 10 best performances worldwide. That expansion would place the Iberian country among the top 15 filmed entertainment markets by 2026, above European counterparts such as Italy, Russia, and the Netherlands.
