Cinema in Norway is attracting a slightly larger share of the population than it did in the early 1990s, but people are going far less often. That is the finding of an analysis published on 27 October 2026 by Statistics Norway (Statistisk sentralbyrå, SSB), which examined cinema-going between 1991 and 2025.
In 2025, 62% of residents went to the cinema at least once, up from 58% in 1991. Yet the average number of visits across the population fell from 4.3 a year to 1.9 over the same period. Cinema-going has become more widespread than it was three decades ago, without remaining as frequent a habit.
Norway’s cinema audience has not regained its pre-pandemic peak
The longer-term picture is not one of steady growth. The share of people visiting a cinema at least once reached 76% in 2018, before falling sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, when cinemas faced closures and restrictions, just 42% attended.
By 2025, the figure had recovered to 62%, still well below its 2018 peak. The average annual number of visits also declined from 3.5 in 2010 to 1.9 in 2025, showing that the fall in frequency was already under way before the pandemic.
Young people still go to the cinema, but much less often
Young people remain among Norway’s most likely cinema-goers. Across the period studied, an average of 90% of those aged 16 to 24 went at least once in a year. But their annual visits have fallen particularly sharply, from about 12.2 in 1991 to roughly 3.3 in 2025.
Older people have moved in the opposite direction in terms of participation. Among those aged 67 to 79, the proportion who went to the cinema at least once rose from 10% in 1991 to 47% in 2025. Their average annual visits increased from 0.2 to 1.4. The gap between younger and older cinema audiences has therefore narrowed considerably.
Streaming may help explain the decline in cinema visits
Streaming services are one possible explanation, according to SSB. In 2025, 90% of the population had access to a subscription to at least one streaming service. Time spent consuming video media has also risen markedly since 2014. The statistics do not establish streaming as the sole cause of falling cinema attendance, but SSB considers it a likely contributing factor.
Access to cinema is not evenly distributed. People with higher education and those living in densely populated areas are more likely to attend, while cinema-going also tends to increase with household income.
The findings come from Norwegian media-use and cultural-participation surveys. SSB notes that changes to the surveys, including their age coverage, may have slightly affected comparisons over time. Even with that qualification, the broad pattern is clear: cinemas reach many Norwegians, but far fewer visits form part of the average person’s year.
