Swiss cinema admissions fall to lowest level in half century

Decline in admissions to Swiss cinemas, under 10 million Keystone-SDA

For the first time in almost half a century, attendance in Swiss cinemas fell below the 10 million mark. In 2025, Swiss cinemas recorded 9.47 million admissions, some 8% less than the previous year.

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This is what emerges from the final figures published today by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). In 2016, cinemas still had 13.7 million viewers. The drop in admissions in 2025 was “only partially” offset by the average ticket price, which rose by CHF0.30 ($0.38).

The decline is due to the low supply of American films for the general public, which registered 5.3 million admissions, or 56% of the total, compared to 61% in 2024, the FSO points out. With the exception of 2020, a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, such a low level has not been seen since 2002. On the contrary, the share of European films increased to 30% of the market. Films from Germany, France and the UK remained the main European contributors in terms of attendance.

Regional differences

In French-speaking Switzerland (-16%) and Ticino (-13%), the decline in cinema admissions was much more marked than in German-speaking Switzerland (-3%).

In French-speaking Switzerland and the Italian-speaking canton, the lack of successful French and Italian-language films had a negative impact. In the German-speaking cantons, on the other hand, German-language films such as Heldin (Late Shift), Hallo Betty (Hello Betty) and Das Kanu des Manitu ensured a good number of viewers.

Local success

However, the market share of Swiss films remained stable at 9.1%, according to the note. With more than 860,000 admissions, Switzerland holds third place in the admissions ranking per country of production, behind the US and Germany. Petra Volpe’s Late Shift and Pierre Monnard’s Hello Betty alone accounted for over a third (36%) of the market share of Swiss films.

According to statistics from Pro Cinema, the Swiss Association of Cinemas and Film Distributors, taking all periods into account, The Swissmakers (1978) remains the biggest hit in Swiss cinema with 942,452 admissions, while Late Shift ranks 23rd.

Translated from Italian by AI/jdp

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