Moviegoers Vanish from Theaters... Last Year’s Admissions Hit 123 Million, Halved from Pre-COVID Levels

Yonhap News Agency

The number of moviegoers visiting theaters last year was found to be about half the level recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data submitted by the Korean Film Council to Assemblywoman Lim Ohkyung of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on October 21, the number of movie theater admissions last year reached 123.13 million. This represents a decrease of 1.6% compared to the previous year and only 55.7% of the three-year average from 2017 to 2019, before the onset of COVID-19.

Theater revenue also shrank by 5.3% year-on-year to just 1.1945 trillion won, which is about 65% of the revenue level before the pandemic.

The average number of movie theater visits per person was 2.4 times, a slight decrease from 2.44 times the previous year. The average ticket price was 9,702 won, down 3.8% from 10,080 won the previous year.

This year, both the number of theatergoers and box office revenue remain sluggish. As of the end of August, the cumulative number of theater admissions was 67.69 million, a 22% decrease from the same period last year. Cumulative box office revenue also fell by 21.8% to 658.4 billion won.

The Korean Film Council assessed that, unlike previous years, major tentpole films (commercial movies with high box office potential) underperformed during the summer peak season.

Meanwhile, the release of domestic commercial films continues to decline. The number of Korean films with a net production cost of over 3 billion won dropped from 45 in 2019 to 29 in 2020, and further to 17 in 2021. While 35 domestic commercial films were released from 2022 to 2024, only 20 are expected this year.

Assemblywoman Lim stated, "To counter the growing dominance of OTT capital, we must strengthen the intellectual property (IP) negotiation power of 'K-Movies' and lay the foundation for a new leap in the film industry through global expansion strategies such as creating investment funds for diversified capital structures and supporting international co-productions."