Download "Theatrical animation films – Insights into market dynamics 2017-2024" here

How has the offer and exploitation of theatrical animation films developed after the pandemic? 

The Theatrical animation films report, just published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, provides a comprehensive overview of the performance and availability of theatrical animation films from 2017 to 2024, with a special focus on Europe. This study highlights key market trends and differences with live-action films. It also examines the countries most active in animation film production and showcases the top animation films.

Key findings:

• Worldwide theatrical admissions for animation films have fully recovered after the pandemic, reaching over 880 million in 2024 which equaled the three-year pre-pandemic average.
• This was however not true for European animation films, which only sold 33 million tickets on average per year between 2022 and 2024, compared to a pre-pandemic average of 42 million.
• European titles accounted for about 25% of worldwide theatrical animation film production and for 36% of animation films on commercial release but they accounted for only 5% of global admissions to animation films.
• Co-productions have been much more important for animation films than for live-action films. 42% percent of European animation films produced between 2017 and 2024 were international co-productions compared to 27% of live-action films.
• Animation films traveled better than live-action films. In the case of European animation films, this was illustrated by the fact that, in recent years, they were released on average in eight markets compared to four markets in the case of live-action fiction films. Furthermore, about 67% of their admissions on average stemmed from export admissions, compared to less than 40% for live-action films. 
• European animation films outperformed live-action films in terms of admissions. Between 2022 and 2024 the average admissions to European animation films were 38% higher than those of live-action films.