Movie theater attendance in Mexico is fourth-highest in the world

December 18, 2023

849431_Cinedot llega a Toluca -4_impreso — Mexicans love going to the movies! In 2023, cinemas in Mexico saw a 33% increase in attendance over 2022. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico had the fourth-highest movie theater attendance in the world in 2022, according to figures from the Global Entertainment & Media Outlook (GEMO) 2023-2027 by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

With nearly 181 million annual moviegoers, Mexico came in fourth after India (986 million), China (710 million) and the United States (655 million).

Box office hits in Mexico this year included The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Barbie and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. (Victoria Razo/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico is consistently a top-performing country for commercial movie theaters, but the COVID-19 lockdowns dealt a significant blow to the industry. Starting in 2022, however, people have increasingly returned to cinemas – and this year’s attendance numbers have already surpassed those of 2022.

As of Nov. 27, cinemas in Mexico had sold 218 million tickets – a 33% increase over 2022, according to figures from the National Chamber of the Film Industry (Canacine).

The Canacine added that the industry’s profits have increased by 36% compared to last year, reaching 14.63 billion pesos (US $852 million).

As the year comes to an end, the most-watched movie of 2023 was The Super Mario Bros. Movie with 22.7 million viewers and 1.5 billion pesos in box office revenue (US $90 million).

As for Mexican cinema, Radical led the top 10, with 3.1 million viewers and $199 million pesos in box office revenue (US $11.5 million).

Mexican cinema contributed 4.8% of global box office earnings, and the annual number of commercially released films from Mexico increased 13% – to 92 movies, according to data from media and marketing agency Comscore.

Overall, the entertainment and media sector in Mexico has grown 65% in the past 10 years and is expected to grow at an average rate of 4.6% over the next five years, according to this edition of the GEMO. Mexico’s productivity in this sector is surpassed only by two countries: Brazil and Spain.

PwC’s GEMO is an annual study that comprehensively analyzes the entertainment and media industry around the world. It covers the business of internet, television, radio, newspapers and magazines, music, and video and audio streaming services across 53 countries.

With reports by El Economista, Milenio and El Economista