K-Content News

Moviegoers paid 9,702 won per ticket in 2024

  SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- The average price moviegoers actually paid to watch a film dropped to the 9,000 won (US$6.2) range for the first time in three years, according to a government report released Tuesday.

The annual report by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) revealed the average ticket price was 9,702 won last year, a 3.8 percent decrease from 10,080 won in 2023. The figure was calculated by dividing total box-office revenue by the total number of spectators.

On average, moviegoers paid only 64.7 percent of the standard weekend adult ticket price at the nation's three major cinema chains.

The average ticket price, which was 8,574 won in 2020, rose to 10,285 won in 2022 but has declined for two consecutive years. It is the first time since 2021, when the figure stood at 9,656 won, that the price has fallen back into the 9,000 won range.

KOFIC attributed the decline to a drop in ticket sales for premium screening formats, which tend to be more expensive, as well as an increase in audiences using various discount programs. Revenue from special formats, such as IMAX, 4D and ScreenX, totaled 75.9 billion won in 2024, down 32.5 percent from the previous year.

The average number of times a South Korean citizen watched a movie in theaters in 2024 was 2.4, ranking eighth globally.

In 2019, the average was 4.37, but it dropped to 1.15 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number rebounded to 2.44 in 2023 but declined again last year for the first time in four years. The expansion of online video streaming services is believed to have influenced this trend.

The domestic theater market, including box-office revenue and theater advertising income, was estimated at $924 million in 2024, a 5.5 percent decrease from the previous year.

In contrast, the streaming service market grew by 11 percent over the same period, reaching $1.519 billion.

The figures are based on the Bank of Korea's 2024 average exchange rate of 1,063.98 won to the U.S. dollar.

Online streaming services accounted for 62.2 percent of the Korean film and video industry, the highest proportion in the past five years, while the theater market held a 37.8 percent share.

As of the end of last year, 570 theaters were operating nationwide, down 0.5 percent from the previous year.

During the same period, the number of screens dropped by 75, or 2.2 percent, to 3,296, while the total number of seats declined 25,960, or 5.6 percent, to 437,975.

The decrease in the number of theaters and screens marks the first decline in four years since 2020. This trend is seen as a result of changes in the media landscape and movie consumption habits due to the rise of streaming platforms.

Among the Korean films released in theaters last year, 37 were commercial films with a net production cost (excluding marketing expenses) of over 3 billion won. The average total production cost of these films was 11.51 billion won, down 9.6 percent from 12.73 billion won in the previous year.

Among the 37 films, only 10 were estimated to have surpassed the break-even point based on total revenue.

Due to the poor performance of new releases, exports of Korean films in 2024 totaled $42 million, a 32.5 percent decrease from the previous year.