In 2016, Asian Americans were the biggest U.S. moviegoers of any ethnic group, dethroning Hispanics by seeing 1.5 more movies on average that year.
According to the exhibition lobbying firm the National Association of Theater Owners in their annual Theatrical Market Statistics Report, the Asian/Other category reported the highest annual attendance per capita in 2016 — on average, Asian Americans went to the movies 6.1 times.
In comparison, Americans of Hispanic descent went to the movies an average 4.6 times, while African Americans went 4.2 times and Caucasians went 3.2 times.
In 2015, the Hispanic population had the biggest per capita attendance with 5.2 average visits, followed by Asians. In 2014, Asians were also the largest moviegoer group, with 5.2 visits on average.
The number of Caucasian moviegoers decreased by 0.2 visits per year from 2015 to 2016, while Hispanics visited the movies 0.6 times less than the previous year. African American and Asian groups increased per capita attendance compared to 2015.
In terms of age, 18- to 24-year-olds had the highest per capita attendance of any age group in 2016. On average, that age group went to the movies 6.5 times, followed by 12- to 17-year-olds (6.1). 18- to 24-year-olds also had the largest increase in per capita attendance of any age group, up 0.6 from 2015.
Per capita annual movie attendance decreased both for males and females in 2016, with 3.8 and 3.7, respectively. Both gender’s attendance decreased by 0.1.