16% fewer cinema-goers than in 2009

Visits to the cinema have fallen by 16% since 2009, with Icelanders on average now taking in a film just once every three months.

According to figures from Statistics Iceland, total cinema attendance fell from 1.65 million in 2009 to 1.38 million in 2014. Numbers have not been lower since 2005.

While total figures have fallen, numbers of cinema-goers outside of Greater Reykjavik have actually increased. City-dwellers remain, however, the most frequent visitors to cinemas, with an average of 5.5 trips to the movies per year. Residents in Western and Northern Iceland go to the cinema on average less than once a year, figures indicate.

In 2014, Iceland had fifteen public cinemas with 41 screens in nine locations throughout the country. There were an average of some 800 film showings per week.

Box-office sales in 2014 totalled ISK 1.49 billion (approx. €10.1 million), slightly down from the 2013 figure.

The share of box-office sales spent on watching Icelandic films reached some 12%, the highest share ever. The share spent on watching American films was 82%.