More cinema tickets are being bought across the globe than there are people in the world, according to new research from UK-based media analyst Screen Digest.

Worldwide average per capita visits now stand at 1.1 across the globe, according to the research. Predictably, the lion's share of cinema ticket sales is claimed by the US, Western Europe and Australasia, as well as some Far Eastern territories and India, which itself sees more than three annual cinema visits per person.

Iceland has the world's highest rate of cinemagoing according to Screen Digest, with 5.7 visits per capita, compared with the US' 5.2 per head.

While Western European territories have relatively high rates of cinemagoing, Central and Eastern Europeans have a lower rate of admissions. Only Hungary and Slovenia see per capita visits rising above one per year.

Mexico is the only Latin American territory which has more than one annual cinema visit per head, while Japan's annual per capita admissions are close to the world average of 1.1 admissions.

China, the world's most populous country, sees the lowest rate of cinemagoing, with an average of less than one visit every 10 years.