Cinema admissions fell 5.3% to 863.6 million in Europe in 2025, according to data from the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), which represents European cinema operators and trade associations.
With takings of close to €6.9bn in 2025, the gross box office remained relatively stable for European cinemas as a whole, with a 1% year-on-year decrease. The figures are based on data from 39 territories in Europe.
Box office returns were up on the previous year in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, UK-Ireland and Ukraine.
Results were on par with 2024 in the Czech Republic, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, North Macedonia and Slovakia.
However, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Serbia and Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden saw reduced revenues year-on-year.
Top-performing countries
Among the best performing countries, German cinemas recorded a 6.4% year-on-year increase in box office with €924m in takings, while admissions increased 2.1% to 91.9 million tickets. Local films accounted for 27.4% of total admissions. The top film of 2025 was home-grown comedy sequel Manitou’s Canoe, which recorded over 5 million admissions and €50.9m at the box office.
Austria achieved a record 11% increase in box office revenues at €124.6m. The Christmas comedy Aufputzt took second place among the country’s all-time most popular films by admissions, attracting close to 442,000 cinema-goers in nine weeks.
In Denmark, admissions rose to 10.3 million, up 4.5% compared with 2024. Danish films contributed to a record 37% national market share. The key local films were Checkered Ninja 3 and The Last Viking, with six Danish films in the top 10.
Norway saw a 7.7% increase in box office and 2.5% increase in admissions. Norwegian films had a market share of 28.8% and five local titles in the top 10. The most successful film of 2025 was the Norwegian family comedy A Mouse Hunt For Christmas, which drew close to 451,000 admissions.
In Croatia, box-office takings totalled €22.5m, up 13.3% year-on-year. Croatian productions and co-productions accounted for 7% of the box office, up from 3.1%. Three local titles performed particularly well: the children’s film Second Diary Of Paulina P., with 74,250 admissions, war of independence film 260 Days, with nearly 64,000 tickets sold, and Igor Bezinović’s Fiume o morte!, the country’s most-watched documentary ever, with close to 39,000 admissions.
Italy grossed €496.6m with 68.4 million tickets sold, an increase of 0.5% in revenues. The market share for locally made films was 32.7% by box office, the highest since 2016. Buen Camino, starring comedian Checco Zalone and released on Christmas Day, took €36m in only seven days, becoming the top film of 2025. It is now the highest-grossing film ever in Italy, surpassing 2009’s Avatar.
Hungary saw a 3.4% increase in box office. The local market share was 17.3%, up by over four percentage points. Local film How Could I Live Without You?, released in December 2024, broke a four-decade record with more than one million admissions domestically, screening in cinemas for 53 weeks.
In Poland, revenues rose 1.3%, while admissions increased 0.3%. The local market share by box office is estimated at 27%. Warner Bros’ Good Home (Dom Dobry) was the most popular Polish film of the year, with 2.4 million admissions.
The UK and Ireland recorded a total box office of £989.5m, a slight 1.2% increase. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy was the top local production in the UK and Ireland, accounting for more than £46.4m in box office and ranking second in the yearly top 10 films overall.
Challenging territories
Some countries saw a more mixed picture with falls in revenue and admissions. A lack of strong local titles affected results in France and Spain.
France recorded 156.8 million admissions, a 13.6% drop from 2024. The biggest French hit in 2025, God Save the Tuche, sold 2.95 million tickets compared with 11 million admissions for Un P’tit Truc En Plus, the most successful French film of 2024. The local market share by admissions was 37.7%.
Spain registered 65 million admissions, an 11% drop, with box office takings of €453m. While revenues saw a 3% increase in the first half of the year, they decreased by 16% in the second half of 2025 due to weak results.
In Portugal, admissions decreased 8.2%, while revenues fell by 3.9% year-on-year, a record low. The only Portuguese-language title to enter the yearly top 10 was the Brazilian Oscar-winning drama I’m Still Here, which drew 385,000 admissions.
Sweden saw admissions of 9.8 million, down year-on-year from 10.3 million. The market share of Swedish films also fell sharply to an estimated 10%, compared with 22% in 2024 – which was the highest level recorded in almost ten years.
US films
US studio titles continued to represent a substantial share of the European market. The most-watched films across the EMEA region included Disney’s Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire And Ash and Lilo & Stitch, Warner Bros’ A Minecraft Movie, Universal’s Wicked: For Good, Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Sony’s 28 Years Later.
UNIC said 2026 film release slate looks promising with international original and franchise titles scheduled for the months ahead including Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune Part Three, Avengers: Doomsday, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Minions 3, Scream 7, Wuthering Heights by Emerald Fennell, Digger by Alejandro Inarritu, as well as anticipated local productions such as De Gaulle, a two-part biopic by Antonin Baudry, Bitter Christmas by Pedro Almodovar and The Entertainment System is Down by Ruben Östlund.
UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte said: “European cinemas achieved encouraging results overall in 2025 thanks to a mix of local hits and US blockbusters, although some countries faced challenges due to an uneven release schedule. However, 2026 looks set to pack a punch with a very strong slate of films and continuing investment by cinema operators. These two ingredients – great films and a great experience – are the key to cinematic success. With a consistent pipeline of quality, diverse genres and well-marketed titles, backed by a significant period of exclusivity, cinemas are the best place to enjoy the magic of film.”
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