Main Streets Across the World 2024
Bucharest, June 2023: The Romanian cinematographic market, among the most affected industries by pandemic restrictions, is approaching pre-2019 levels, thus in 2022 the number of viewers reached 11.2 million, a 40% increase compared to 2021, but by 15% below the 2019 level, according to the data offered by the National Center for Cinematography, and analyzed by the real estate consultancy company Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
In terms of total revenues, cinema operators reported a 2.5 times increase compared to 2021, reaching 246.2 million lei (about 50 million euros). However, this represents a 7% decrease face to 2019, when a record level of 265 million lei (approximately 56 million euros) was recorded. It is worth to be mentioned that during the analyzed period the average ticket price increased by 9% from 20 lei in 2019, to 21.9 lei in 2022.
The data include both single-screen cinemas and multiplexes, with the latter accounting for over 96% of revenue and the number of spectators.
The frequency of visits per capita also recorded a significant growth in 2022 compared with 2021, from 0.24 to 0.59, but still below the 0.68 visits per capita registered in 2019.
The largest cinematographic markets in Romania are: Bucharest (3,547,733 spectators in 2022), Cluj-Napoca (715,695), Constanta (613,048) and Timisoara (691,656), cities that represent close to 50% of the demand.
Dana Radoveneanu, Head of Retail Agency, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox: „The evolution of the cinema industry in 2022 shows that shopping centers regained their important position in the preferences of Romanians when it comes to leisure. Over 96% of the cinema halls in Romania are found within shopping malls, and investments in new projects planned to for the coming years will continue to further contribute to the expansion of the cinema infrastructure”.
At the end of last year, 32 out of the 41 counties in Romania had at least one multiplex cinema, the average number of cinema halls being 13.25.
Map of Romanian cities with the highest cinema attendances in 2022 – spectators and evolution compared to 2021 and 2019
In terms of Romanian counties with the highest frequency of visits per inhabitant, the most important ones are Brasov (2.17 visits per inhabitant in 2022), Bucharest (1.57), Braila (1.3) Cluj (1.05), Constanta (0.93), Deva (0.85) and Suceava (0.76).
The openings of new cinemas in cities such as Bistrita, Brasov, Buzau or Sibiu during 2020-2022 have led to an increase in the number of viewers compared to 2019. In Bucharest, although the number of cinemas increased from 118 in 2019 to 122 in 2022, the number of spectators in 2022 was 20% below the pre-pandemic level.
The counties with the highest use and occupancy of existing cinema infrastructure are Iasi (1.35 spectators / seat / day), Covasna (0.75 spectators / seat / day) and Vrancea (0.72 spectators / seat/ day), followed by Dolj (0.62 spectators / seat / day), Alba (0.6 spectators/ seat /day) and Bucharest (0.51 spectators / seat/ day).
Cushman & Wakefield Echinox is a leading real estate company on the local market and the exclusive affiliate of Cushman & Wakefield in Romania, owned and operated independently, with a team of over 80 professionals and collaborators offering a full range of services to investors, developers, owners and tenants.
Cushman & Wakefield, one of the global leaders in commercial real estate services, with 52,000 employees in over 60 countries and $ 10.1 billion in revenue, provides asset and investment management consulting services, capital markets, leasing, properties administration, tenant representation. For more information, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com
