The amount of Russians frequenting the movie theater during the New Year holidays has dropped by 30 percent compared to last year, as economic recession forces Russians to cut back on their spending, the RBC newspaper reported, citing a report.
Between Jan. 1 and 10 this year, 11 million people visited cinemas, down 30 percent compared to the same period in 2014, according to a report by the Unified Automated Information System (UAIS), cited by RBC.
As a result, ticket sales were down by 25 percent and amounted to 3.1 billion rubles over the same period, the report said. The New Year holidays are traditionally the most lucrative period for the country's cinemas.
Analysts attribute the slump in attendance to the economic crisis that has caused Russians to tighten their belts.
In November, real wages in Russia fell by 8.9 percent in annual terms, according to data from the Rosstat state statistics service.
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