Last year’s overall admissions in Sweden increased 5.9% from 2020 but sank by a record 62% from 2019 due to tight Covid-19 restrictions.

According to the Swedish cinema association Sveriges Biografägareförbund, 6,027,312 cinema tickets were sold in Sweden last year, up 5.9% from the record low 5,666,632 in 2020, but a far cry from the 15.9 million sold in 2019.

Peter Fornstam, Chairman of the Swedish Exhibitors’ Association and managing director of Svenska Bio said the first five months of 2021 were ‘dreadful’ with a limit of 8 persons per screen, and although the limit was gradually loosened the following months, new restrictions early December and the introduction of a Covid pass “reduced willingness to go to the movies over the holidays.”

Released September 29, just when cinema restrictions were temporarily lifted, James Bond’s No Time to Die ended up number 1 of the annual film chart, with 811,037 admissions or 30% of all admissions for the top 10 films 2021. Despite its late release - mid December, Spider-Man: No Way Home was the second biggest film of the year, with 447,713 admissions.

Meanwhile Swedish films dropped to a record low 759,551 admissions, down 63% from 2019 (2.1 million admissions) and 50% from 2020 (1.5 million). Only one Swedish film - Sune-Mission Midsummer - made it in the Top 10, 2021.

The second biggest Swedish film was Hannes Holm’s A Christmas Tale with 145,471 admissions.

Torkel Stål, analyst at the Swedish Film Institute said there were four main reasons for Swedish films' downfall in 2021.

  • Increased competition from international films, since many US blockbusters were postponed from 2020 to 2021.
  • Cinemas could operate at full capacity only for a very short time, and during that period competition was very high, and No Time to Die dominated the screen time.
  • There were signs that youngsters were the biggest cinemagoers, while Swedish films tend to attract an older audience,
  • The trend towards Swedish films premiering on VOD was sustained.

According to the Swedish cinema association, the three most successful local documentaries were released by TriArt: Isabel Andersson’s Lena - about the acclaimed actress Lena Nyman, which sold 33,211 tickets, followed by The World’s Most Beautiful Boy by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström with 6,393 admissions and Children of the Enemy by Gorki Glase-Müller with 2,248 admissions.

TriArt also distributed the Danish Oscar-nominated film Flee, which sold 1,658 tickets, the biggest tally for any Nordic (non-Swedish) film released in 2021.

Commenting on prospects for Swedish films in 2022, Stål cited the good performances of the comedy Off Track (Ur spår) the animated film Bamse and the Volcano Island and The Emigrants [in the Top 10 as of February 20]. He also noted the trend for straight to VOD that will continue in 2022, notably with the Noomi Rapace vehicle Black Crab, due to premiere on Netflix March 18.

Meanwhile Fornstam was very optimistic for the rest of 2022. “Q2 looks amazing, one of the best I’ve ever seen for that quarter,” he said. Asked if he felt there was a risk of cannibalisation due to the backlog of titles waiting for release, he said there is room for every movie scheduled, but competition for consumers’ attention might come from other leisure activities, such as theatre, concerts, or dining out.

To download the SWEDISH 2021 ADMISSION CHARTS: CLICK HERE.