Romania’s cinema count has drastically fallen from its peak, mirroring trends in other European nations due to market changes and streaming.
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Romania had 108 cinemas in 2024, hosting over 11 million viewers, which is significantly lower than its peak of 4,637 venues around 1990. This decline, shared by other European countries, began after the communist regime fell, with post-communist administration failing to adapt to market economics and leading to degradation in quality and infrastructure. Film producer Tudor Giurgiu suggests that real estate speculation contributed to this decline, resulting in insufficient cinemas for the population, which paradoxically allowed local cinema to flourish despite fewer venues. While some countries like Czechia are seeing new cultural spaces emerge, Italy’s Milan has seen a drastic reduction from 160 to around 30 cinemas, with industry experts noting that cinema itself shares responsibility for declining relevance against television competition. Similarly, Albania has reduced its number of state-run cinemas. Overall, Romania ranks low among EU countries regarding the percentage of people who have visited a cinema in the last year, especially given the rise of streaming platforms.
