China Becomes Second Largest Movie Market in 2012

The North American movie market remains the largest market by a wide margin. In 2012, box office revenue in the United States and Canada amounted to $10.8 billion or 31% of the global total. For the first time in 2012, China overtook Japan to become the world’s second largest film market. Chinese movie ticket sales amounted to $2.4 billion last year, a 36% increase over 2011 and enough to relegate Japan to third place.

Overall, global box office revenue increased 6.4% to reach $34.7 billion in 2012. International box office revenue grew 32% over the past five years, whereas the North American market grew only 12.5% since 2008.