Swedish cinema attendance declines as domestic film visits halve

New statistics from the Swedish Agency for Cultural Analysis reveal a decline in cinema attendance in Sweden during 2025. Total cinema visits fell to 9.8 million, representing a 6 percent decrease (570,000 fewer visits) compared to 2024.

The decline was particularly sharp for domestic productions. Attendance for Swedish films dropped from approximately 2.3 million in 2024 to about 1.1 million in 2025, effectively halving the audience in a single year. André Valleskog, a researcher and statistician at the agency, noted that this drop should be viewed in context, as 2024 was an unusually successful year for Swedish cinema, seeing a 19 percent increase in attendance.

The report suggests that the lack of major blockbusters contributed to the decline, as attendance for the ten most-visited films fell by 23 percent. While visits to films with many screenings (over 5,000) decreased by 17 percent, attendance for films with fewer than 1,000 screenings actually saw an increase. In 2025, 19 Swedish feature films premiered in cinemas.