Families priced out of cinemas after ticket prices soar by 26% since 2007

• Average cinema ticket in the UK is £6.53, London prices more than £13
• Family of four set back £36.40 - more than £50 with popcorn and travel
• As fewer people go to the cinema, industry struggles to build new ones

By Sean Poulter

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Cinema tickets prices are soaring meaning fewer people can go out to watch films

Families are cutting back on visits to the cinema amid spiralling prices both for tickets and snacks.
The average ticket price has increased by more than 26 per cent since 2007 at the same time as incomes in working households have fallen by 6.4 per cent.
At one time thousands of children would spend every Saturday morning at the cinema enjoying homemade dramas from the Children’s Film Foundation or serials from the USA.
However, today a trip to see the latest blockbuster, whether that is X-Men Days of Future Past or Disney’s Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, is so expensive that it can only be an occasional treat.
The latest figures from the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association put the average cinema ticket in the UK at £6.53, however families in London and the south face much higher prices.
For example, tickets at the Odeon in Kingston, Surrey, work out at £12.70 for an adult or £36.40 for a family of four. Once you add in the cost of transport, popcorn and drinks, the cost could quite easily top £50.
Researchers at the accountants Deloitte found even families with a household income of more than £55,000 are rationing their trips to the cinema.
Deloitte said: ‘In a year in which British films and talent were recognised at many award ceremonies, 27 out of 73 constituencies in London had no cinema. This finding has led to suggestions that poorer people are less well served by the cinema industry.
‘A combination of price rises and falling incomes makes the cinema relatively less accessible, a trend reflected in the survey data, which shows that higher income groups are significantly more likely to visit the cinema than low-income groups.

 

‘Some 28per cent of those earning more than £58,000 per annum visited the cinema at least monthly, compared to 18per cent of those who earn less than £20,000.’
Similarly, 70per cent of households in the higher income bracket go at least twice a year, however this falls to 39per cent for those earning less than £20,000.
As fewer people go to the cinema, it becomes increasingly difficult for the industry to build new ones and maintain those that exist, particularly in poorer areas. There have also been costs associated with providing new digital projection systems and sound systems.

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A family of four in Kingston, Surrey, will be set back more than £50 for travel, popcorn and tickets

Deloitte said: ‘A relatively small, two screen, 400-seat cinema costs around £3million to build, and the industry has had to absorb the capital costs of digitisation over the past decade, reducing the capital available to build new infrastructure.
‘It is therefore little surprise that large cinemas are being placed close to the richer audiences that guarantee returns.’
The report says the gradual decline in numbers going to the cinema was first noticed in 2009 and it could well mean that children deprived of the chance to go to the cinema as youngsters will stay away as grow older.
‘In the short term, the creative side of the cinema industry in the UK is unlikely to be affected by relative lack of supply.
‘The majority of funding for UK titles comes from overseas and the UK is a significant net exporter in film.

‘It would, however, be remiss not to