Adjusted for inflation, a cinema ticket in 2025 is at its cheapest in more than a decade. So why do we all think it’s more expensive?
If you’ve not taken a trip to the multiplex recently, a ticket might cost less than you think.
Since 2010, the average price of a cinema ticket has risen consistently below inflation. According to the UK Cinema Association, which represents over 90 per cent of UK cinema operators, between 2023-24 it even went down. Yet if you ask the average person in the street about the state of the big screen, you’re hard-pressed to find one who won’t mention the price.
“The cinema always used to be a great option for a cheap day out,” says Maia, a student living in York. “I feel now, however, that it is being gradually priced out.”
“I used to have an annual pass and watch virtually anything,” says Tom, from Burgess Hill. “However, with movies being launched on subscription sites on the same day as cinemas, or even going straight to subscription sites, it just became pointless, considering the cost.”
But the fact is, when adjusted for inflation, the average ticket sold in the UK today is £1.40 cheaper than it was in 2018 – when more people went to the cinema than in any year since 1970. It’s a real problem for an industry which has been fighting a narrative of decline since punter numbers were devastated by the pandemic.
“There is significant discounting in the market,” UKCA CEO Phil Clapp says, adding that the sector “has worked hard to keep ticket prices at affordable levels, despite a significant increase in a number of operating costs” since 2020. Energy, staffing and business rates have all gotten more expensive in the last few years, while cinema attendance – despite growing consistently year-on-year since 2020 – is still lagging 20% behind the five years leading up to the first Covid lockdown.
Cinema owners aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch, of course. Cinema tickets might be cheaper – but petrol, parking, childcare and a hundred other associated costs are not.
But while the price of cinema tickets might be down, they’re also valued far less. The streaming boom over the last decade has inured us to the idea that most films are readily available online for the price of a monthly Netflix subscription. Steadily shrinking exclusivity windows, too, mean that a film is now likely to appear on a major streaming service a matter of weeks after its box office debut.
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“Films will be out of theatres and end up on streaming before I’ve really found the time to just ‘check something out’,” says Kieran, from London. “With work and cooking it’s hard to necessarily find that time slot.”
“I stopped going [to the cinema] mainly due to the cost,” says Jon, from Chelmsford. “It just seems so costly to see something which, if you bide your time, will probably be able to see on streaming pretty soon after anyway.”
It’s no coincidence that cinema chains have spent recent years looking to improve the quality of their offering. In 2017, the newly re-fitted Odeon East Kilbride became the chain’s first fully reclining cinema in Europe. Since then, 31 more Odeon outlets have replaced their cheapest seats with a recliner option. 25 branches of Vue – the third-largest cinema chain in the UK – have followed suit.
But improved legroom and fancy cup-holders come at a cost. The average price of a weekend recliner in one of the UK’s three largest multiplex chains (Odeon, Cineworld and Vue) is £11.55 – excluding IMAX, 3D or Superscreen tickets – almost £4 higher than the national average.
For punters whose local multiplex has received a recliner facelift in recent years, the price of a cinema ticket doesn’t just look unusually expensive – it probably is. Rae, whose closest cinema is a recliner-only Vue in Thanet, says prices there are “extortionate” – a ticket there will set you back anything from £7.99 ā £11.99 for a 2D screening.
Without the option of a cheaper, local cinema experience, it’s not surprising that many people see a trip to the pictures as a luxury they struggle to justify. In attempting to increase the value of the theatrical experience, multiplexes have inadvertently turned affordable cinemagoing into a postcode lottery.
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