Live event ticket sales in France generated €2.1bn (£1.7bn/$2.2bn) in 2023 marking a 17 per cent increase on the year before, according to a new report from the country’s Ministry of Culture.
The study is the second edition and covers the entire live performance sector including theatre, music, and comedy.
It is based on data reported to France’s Ticketing Information System which was included in a 2016 law designed to provide more insight into the industry.
An 11 per cent increase in ticket purchases was also seen, equating to a figure of around 62 million while more than 200,000 shows were produced.
Theatre and related arts, such as circus and street performers, represented the largest share of shows with 48.5 per cent of the total.
Festivals were a key player for France’s ticketing industry in 2023, as it contributed 18 per cent of live performance ticket sales with 11.2 million. They also generated €367m for 18 per cent of the total revenue and were popular among youth as 19 per cent of people aged 15 and over said they had been to a festival in the last 12 months.
Figures for the study were provided by the National Music Centre and the Association for the Support of Private Theatre.
“This study helps us in our discussions with professional associations and local authorities,” said the Ministry’s project manager of artistic creation, Émilie Charpentier.
“It allows us to better monitor the activity of the structures that the State subsidises and, more generally, to monitor developments in the sector and to be able to potentially influence our public policies.”
The Ministry is aiming to continually produce a report annually to better understand the state of the live performance industry in France.
“Last year, we produced for the first time a complete snapshot of ticketing across the entire live performance sector,” said Amandine Schreiber, head of the department of studies, foresight, statistics and documentation.
“The partnership with the DGCA is very valuable for assessing the quality of the data. We want to extend this partnership and strengthen it at all stages of the results production chain.”
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