Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Pandemic hurts box office takings at Swiss cinemas

Outdoor cinema
Fewer people were able to attend cinemas during the pandemic year of 2020. © Keystone / Thomas Delley

Ticket sales at Swiss cinemas plummeted by two-thirds last year as venues were forced to close their doors. Of the films that could be shown, Swiss movies made up a greater share of the total offering.

Official statistics out on Tuesday revealed the economic impact of Covid-19 on Switzerland’s 263 cinema theatres. Income fell from CHF193 million ($208 million) in 2019 to just CHF67 million last year.

The number of movie premieres dropped 43% as production companies postponed the release of new films. This was more pronounced for foreign movies than home-grown productions. As a result, the proportion of Swiss films being shown in cinemas rose to a record market share of 14%.

According to a related survey of movie consumption habits of the Swiss population between 2014 and 2019, the number of people saying they went to the movie theatre remained constant for the whole period – even among younger respondents.

Among other platforms, 36% of the survey respondents said they made use of Video on Demand to watch movies in 2019. The percentage of people viewing films on television and DVD declined during the period of the survey.

More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR