Film Facts & Figures

Total Dutch film & audio-visual market increased -
Video on Demand revenues surpass theatrical box office for the first time

Although based on industry estimates, in 2018 the total Dutch box-office revenues of €312M were, for the first time, surpassed by video on demand (VOD) revenues of €324M. This is one of the conclusions in the latest Film Facts & Figures of the Netherlands - May 2019, issued by the Netherlands Film Fund.

Market grows, international companies dominate
Total market revenues in the Netherlands increased substantially from €628M in 2017 to €688M in 2018. For the first time, total Video On Demand (VOD) revenues of €324M surpassed the box office revenues of €312M. Both in cinema as in VOD, large foreign players rule. While the Dutch SVOD market is dominated by Netflix, in the exhibition sector three large foreign-owned concerns enjoy a marketshare of 69%.

A fine meshed network of 106 Dutch arthouse theatres continued to claim a handsome 7.2% of the Dutch box office revenues in 2018, which compares very favorably with other European countries.
DVD/Blu-ray turnover is still in decline. In 2018 revenues fell to €52M from €129M in 2014. Foreign players also dominate in theatrical distribution: in 2018 Universal Pictures, Warner Bros and Walt Disney gained a 68.4% market share of the total box office.

Admissions drop, box office increases
The number of cinema admissions showed a slight decline in 2018, both in total (35.7M) as well as in terms of audiences for Dutch films (4M). The total box office however grew from the previous year figure of €301.9M to €312.3M. In 2018 the admissions market share for Dutch films reached 11.2%. The overall market share for European films remained stable at 21.5%. The US market share dropped slightly to 74.6%. The number of cinemas in the Netherlands remained stable at 275, enabling audiences to watch films on 971 screens (956 screens in 2017).

Production increased substantially
The Dutch cinema and audio-visual market showed continued signs of vibrancy with the total production volume reaching a record €140.9M (2017: €108.3M).

The Netherlands Film Production Incentive provided another boost in 2018 as it granted cash rebates to 77 projects (63 film productions, 14 high-end TV-series), a total investment of €25.6M, which generated €104.1M of production spent in the Netherlands.

Success for both majority and minority Dutch films at international festivals
Dutch films, both majority and minority, were again successful outside the Netherlands, winning a total of 226 international awards, substantially more than the 2017 total number of 152 after their selection at 1,248 festivals (2018: 1,407), including Rotterdam, Berlin, Cannes, San Sebastian, Locarno, Toronto, Venice, IDFA, Tribeca and Sundance.

Click to read the Film Facts & Figures of the Netherlands, May 2019 online or download the PDF.