Number of indoor cinema sites

Definition

Permanent/fixed commercial business installation primarily engaged in the commercial projection of cinematographic audiovisual works in 35 mm and digital format using a minimum of 1.3K resolution.

Data source

National statistical offices, Agency of cinematography; Ministry of culture and/or Communication/ media.

Source definition

UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Calculation method

Sum of all active cinema sites existing in a country.

Data required

Number of active cinema sites.

Interpretation

A higher number shows the increased capacity offered to the population to access movies viewing in cinemas.

Limitations

Data are only considering formal cinema facilities while alternative facilities can be available such as other commercial installations using video projection equipment or 16 mm projection equipment or below. It also covers art cinemas, mobile unit cinemas and outdoor drive-ins.

This indicator can to be complemented with data on cinema capacity (seats and screens) to calculate refined per capita indicator.
The geographical location of cinemas provide complementary information to determine the distribution of cinemas within a country.

Purpose

To determine the infrastructure of a country in providing access to watch movies to its population.

Types of disaggregation

By type of screens (monoscreen, 2-7 screens, 8+ screens (multiplexes))
By type of geographical areas: urban/rural areas"