Cinema attendance is on the rise in Switzerland, particularly in Ticino
Keystone-SDA
In the first six months of 2026, Swiss cinemas recorded 5.3 million admissions, the best half-yearly figure since 2023.
The increase was particularly marked in Italian-speaking Switzerland, with a 33% rise in audience numbers.
This is according to the survey on films and cinemas published today by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). However, cinema attendance has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels; in the first half of 2019, around 6 million admissions were recorded, the statement notes.
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In the first half of 2026, cinema attendance in Ticino (+33%) was followed by that in French-speaking Switzerland (+29%) and German-speaking Switzerland (+16%), the report states. Multiplexes, cinemas with at least eight screens, attracted the largest number of cinema-goers (+22%).
Unlike last year, when one of the driving forces was a Swiss film, Petra Volpe’s L’ultimo turno, international blockbusters came out on top in the first half of 2026, recording a 39% increase in admissions. Audiences for European productions (-5%) and Swiss films (-27%) were down compared with the first half of 2025.
“By contrast, productions from other countries have seen strong growth, with a 49% rise in admissions. Key contributors were the Moroccan film Calle Málaga and the Japanese film Rental Family, which together accounted for over a third of the audience in this category,” the statement notes.
The peak for this first half of the year was recorded during the weekend of the 20th cinema week, in mid-May, when nearly 365,000 people went to the cinema. Among the films showing at that time was the Michael Jackson biopic Michael. In 2025, during the same period, the figure was less than 100,000.
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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
