Film industry in Sweden - statistics & facts

Like most Scandinavian cinema markets, Sweden struggled more than the majority of countries in Europe to bounce back during the second year of the coronavirus outbreak. In 2021, it recorded the third lowest annual growth in box office gross among European economies, below 19 percent. Compared to two years earlier, before the pandemic, the revenue decreased by almost 58 percent. Sweden had the 15th highest cinema attendance in Europe in 2021, yet the figure – six million – amounted to less than 40 percent of the number of movie tickets sold in the Nordic country in 2019. The relevance of Swedish movies in those results also declined. In 2019, over 13 percent of Sweden's cinema attendance came from domestic films. Two years later, that share stood at 11 percent.

Swedish moviemaking

Despite accounting for little more than one-tenth of tickets sold, Swedish movies made up for nearly one-fifth of films theatrically released in Sweden in 2021. Filmmaking in the Scandinavian country followed a clear pattern that year. About half of all Swedish movies to hit the big screen were documentaries. This trend left relatively smaller room for the genres within the realm of fiction. In 2021, the number of fictional feature films made in Sweden added up to 25 – with one of them being a hybrid between documentary and nonfactual story. Since 2011, only twice that figure surpassed 30.

Gender equality in Swedish cinema

Created by American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, the Bechdel test became more notorious after the traditional Swedish Film Institute supported its adoption in the early 2010s. It consists in asking whether a movie includes at least two women talking to each other about something other than a male character. It promptly boosted Sweden's reputation for championing gender equality in film. In 2021, that translated into almost 40 percent of domestic movies having leading roles shared between male and female protagonists, up from 24 percent among foreign films. Meanwhile, 21 percent of Swedish productions had female leads versus 31 percent of movies made elsewhere. On the other hand, the average wages of women directing and/or producing films and theater plays in Sweden was nearly 15 percent lower than that of their male counterparts in 2021. Between 2014 and 2020, female professionals enjoyed a higher average.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, May 23, 2023

Key insights

Sweden's box office gross
803m SEK
Cinema attendance in Sweden
10m
Annual number of movies made in Sweden
49
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Box office revenue in Sweden from 2013 to 2021 (in million SEK)

Cinema & Film

Box office revenue in Sweden 2013-2021

Number of cinema screens in Sweden from 2019 to 2021

Cinema & Film

Number of cinema screens in Sweden 2019-2021

Cinema attendance in Sweden from 2009 to 2022 (in millions)

Cinema & Film

Cinema attendance in Sweden 2009-2022

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Film industry in Finland
Music industry in Scandinavia
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