Screen Australia

  • Search Keywords

  • Year

  • Production Status

  • Genre

  • Co-production

  • SA Supported

  • Indigenous creative

  • Length

  • Technique

Cinema audience
attendance patterns by city

Percentage of people who had been to the cinema in the last 12 months in each mainland state capital, and average number of visits, 1974–2016

Next update July 2018

Attendance rate | Frequency

There has been little variation in the proportions of cinema attendance in mainland capitals over the last several years. Sydney generally records the lowest attendance rate, and Adelaide the lowest average number of visits.

Attendance rate
(% been to the cinema in the last 12 months - 10 year period)

Graph: Cinema attendance rate by city, 1974-2015. Table below has the data.
Attendance rate (% of people)
Sydney Melbourne Adelaide Brisbane Perth
1974 64.2% 68.1% 72.6% 66.3% 70.9%
1976 59.5% 69.1% 68.9% 63.1% 69.1%
1978 62.6% 70.9% 68.4% 72.2% 71.3%
1980 68.1% 69.6% 73.1% 62.1% 75.1%
1982 68.3% 71.5% 69.5% 69.1% 73.4%
1984 58.0% 63.0% 57.0% 59.0% 65.0%
1986 52.5% 56.2% 55.9% 50.2% 56.8%
1988 56.6% 61.1% 58.4% 53.1% 53.5%
1990 56.1% 64.0% 59.2% 61.0% 56.0%
1992 59.7% 66.0% 62.7% 61.5% 66.6%
1994 66.1% 69.7% 67.6% 65.5% 67.9%
1996 70.1% 73.1% 70.4% 71.5% 75.6%
1998 68.8% 73.9% 70.2% 72.2% 77.8%
1999 69.0% 73.2% 72.0% 73.8% 75.6%
2000 66.5% 70.2% 70.6% 70.0% 77.0%
2001 66.4% 71.7% 73.7% 69.9% 74.4%
2002 69.7% 73.0% 74.6% 72.6% 75.3%
2003 69.4% 72.1% 73.8% 70.9% 70.5%
2004 68.5% 73.4% 72.8% 73.2% 76.3%
2005 65.6% 70.5% 67.7% 69.8% 71.5%
2006 65.3% 69.1% 70.9% 66.2% 69.8%
2007 63.6% 69.6% 67.9% 68.6% 68.1%
2008 62.0% 68.3% 64.8% 70.7% 68.7%
2009 64.6% 70.8% 67.3% 71.3% 72.0%
2010 66.0% 71.6% 68.3% 71.8% 70.0%
2011 65.4% 69.5% 66.9% 69.1% 69.8%
2012 66.3% 71.2% 67.4% 69.8% 69.8%
2013 67.2% 72.3% 66.1% 72.8% 71.1%
2014 66.1% 70.8% 65.9% 70.1% 68.1%
2015 69.4% 69.8% 68.8% 71.4% 65.3%
2016 72.3% 73.6% 66.6% 73.4% 65.6%

Source: Val Morgan & Co (Aust) Pty Ltd/Roy Morgan Research Centre, © Val Morgan & Co (Aust) Pty Ltd. Data may only be reproduced with permission.

Top

Frequency
(average no. visits per year)1

Graph: Cinema frequency of visits by city, 1974-2015. Table below has the data.
Attendance frequency (average no. visits per year)1
Sydney Melbourne Adelaide Brisbane Perth
1974 9.2 9.2 10.3 11.6 9.6
1976 9.3 8.8 8.2 9.1 9.8
1978 10.9 9.5 8.6 10.0 13.6
1980 9.1 8.7 9.9 9.4 11.4
1982 9.4 9.3 8.7 8.0 9.5
1984 5.5 5.7 4.4 5.5 7.3
1986 7.4 7.2 6.4 7.6 7.3
1988 10.8 11.1 10.5 11.6 10.2
1990 11.2 11.0 9.5 10.8 9.7
1992 10.8 10.4 8.7 12.2 10.9
1994 10.6 10.8 9.6 11.9 10.6
1996 11.1 11.6 10.0 11.8 11.5
1998 8.3 8.3 8.5 7.6 8.6
1999 8.5 8.3 8.5 7.7 9.0
2000 8.3 8.6 8.4 8.4 8.7
2001 8.5 8.5 7.9 8.6 9.1
2002 8.6 8.0 7.7 8.5 8.5
2003 8.7 7.8 8.1 8.3 7.5
2004 8.1 8.0 6.7 8.0 7.8
2005 8.2 7.4 6.0 7.7 7.5
2006 7.8 7.6 6.0 7.3 7.5
2007 7.7 7.6 6.0 7.2 6.6
2008 7.5 7.5 6.5 7.8 6.8
2009 7.6 7.8 6.2 7.7 7.0
2010 7.3 7.7 7.7 8.0 6.7
2011 6.8 7.4 6.2 7.5 6.2
2012 7.1 7.2 6.0 6.5 6.6
2013 6.9 6.9 5.9 6.5 6.6
2014 6.7 7.4 6.0 7.0 6.4
2015 6.6 6.8 5.8 6.7 6.3
2016 6.9 6.7 5.5 6.9 6.5

Source: Val Morgan & Co (Aust) Pty Ltd/Roy Morgan Research Centre, © Val Morgan & Co (Aust) Pty Ltd. Data may only be reproduced with permission.

Notes:
1. Average annual frequency figures are estimates, based on data for frequency of attendance over a three-month period. The method for calculating annual estimates was adjusted between 1996 and 1998.

Top