The Philippines is a young country. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority's 2020 Census of Population and Housing, the median age is 25.3 years, and people aged 15 to 30 number about 31.4 million, or 28.9% of the household population. Where and how this generation watches films will largely shape the future of the country's film industry.
This report draws on published data, including box-office figures, viewer surveys, announcements by streaming companies and estimates of piracy losses, to examine the state of film viewing in the Philippines from both a positive and a negative perspective. Because nationwide statistics on film viewing among young people alone are limited, the analysis combines population data with surveys covering all age groups.
The market today: recovered, but still below half of pre-pandemic levels
Annual box-office receipts in the Philippines, as compiled by Box Office Mojo from titles reported to the site, totaled about $144.51 million in 2019. They plunged to about $7.75 million in 2020 and about $1.29 million in 2021 during the pandemic, before recovering to about $41.27 million in 2022, $47.27 million in 2023 and $45.51 million in 2024.
In 2025, receipts rose 37.6% to about $62.62 million. Even so, that was only about 43% of the 2019 total. The record remains about $157.44 million, set in 2015.
Figures from the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), the year-end showcase that is the biggest earning season for local films, show how uneven the recovery has been. The 49th edition in 2023 grossed a record P1.069 billion, surpassing the P1.061 billion earned in 2018. According to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which organizes the festival, the record was achieved with about 800 cinemas, compared with about 1,200 in 2018.
The 50th edition in 2024 was announced to have reached its P800-million target, but that was roughly 25% lower than the previous year. For the 51st edition in 2025, organizers said all eight entries earned more than P1 million each on opening day, but neither individual nor total box-office results were officially released.
The positive view: a young nation's appetite for watching is growing
Online video viewing is among the highest in the world
According to DataReportal's "Digital 2026: The Philippines" report, the country had 98 million internet users as of October 2025, equal to 83.8% of the population. Social media user identities rose 10.3% from a year earlier to 95.8 million.
Filipinos spend more than 20 hours a week watching online video, the second-longest time in the world, the report said. Smartphone ownership stands at 98.6%. The most-watched types of content each week are music videos (76.3%), comedy and viral videos (58.1%) and influencer vlogs (47.8%). Combined with a young population, demand for watching video content is very large.
Streaming use continues to expand
A survey of more than 800 people conducted in May and June 2025 by US advertising technology company Magnite estimated that about 77 million Filipinos use video streaming services. Eighty percent said they watch more streaming content than they did a year earlier, and 75% said they plan to try a new service within the next 12 months. Respondents used an average of six streaming services.
Seventy-two percent use connected TV, or streaming on a television set, and watch with an average of four other people. The finding suggests that streaming in the Philippines is not only a solitary activity but also entertainment shared with family and friends.
Local services also have a strong presence. Philippine streaming app Vivamax announced in June 2024 that it had surpassed 11 million subscribers about three years after its 2021 launch. It produces seven feature films a month, or more than 80 a year.
Filipino titles are reaching global audiences through streaming
Netflix said in February 2026 that more than 90% of its Philippine members watched local titles in 2025. A total of 32 Filipino titles have entered its global Top 10, and the company plans its largest Philippine slate yet in 2026, with five originals: three series and two films.
In March 2025, the film "Sosyal Climbers" ranked eighth in the non-English films category with 2 million views. A month earlier, the theatrical release "Balota" also ranked eighth in the same category. Films that did not draw large audiences in cinemas now have a route to viewers at home and abroad.
Hits can still happen in cinemas
"Hello, Love, Again," released in 2024, earned P1.6 billion worldwide, the highest for a Filipino film. In 2025, ABS-CBN said "Meet, Greet & Bye" had surpassed P215 million in worldwide earnings as of November 23, making it the year's top Filipino film at that point.
Auteur-driven films have also found audiences. "Sunshine," a winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, was reported to have earned about P47 million locally, and the 2025 Cinemalaya festival grossed P13.4 million, up 131% from the previous year. Together with the 37.6% rise in overall box-office receipts in 2025, the figures confirm that audiences still go to cinemas for films that generate buzz.
The negative view: the shift away from cinemas and the struggles of local films are structural
67% mainly stream, while 21% often go to cinemas
A study released in December 2024 by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and De La Salle University (DLSU), based on 800 respondents and focus groups with 22 participants, found that 67% use streaming services as their main way of watching films. Only 21% said they often go to cinemas. Reasons for staying away included high ticket prices, limited screenings of local films and repetitive themes.
Before the release, FDCP Chairperson Jose Javier Reyes shared findings showing that 76% of respondents preferred foreign films and that audiences had grown tired of romantic comedies. He said exposure to Korean dramas at home during the pandemic had made viewers more discerning, and that people in the D and E socioeconomic classes no longer watch local films in cinemas. He also noted that more people now wait for films to reach streaming platforms instead of paying P500 to watch in a cinema, and that repeat viewers, who watch favorite films several times, have disappeared.
2025 was a "bad year" for local films
In February 2026, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Chairperson Lala Sotto agreed with the FDCP chief's view that 2025 was a bad year for the Philippine film industry, citing competition from streaming and rising ticket prices. While overall box-office receipts grew in 2025, the top earners were Hollywood titles, led by "The Conjuring: Last Rites."
In August 2026, Reyes again said it was wrong to think Philippine cinema was doing well. Pointing to the strong performance of Hollywood blockbusters, he argued that the problem is not only price but also audiences' attitude toward local films.
Uneven access to screens is also visible in the numbers. The LaSallian, the DLSU student newspaper, reported that "Green Bones," which won Best Picture at the 2024 MMFF, was shown in only 40 cinemas nationwide, while the musical "Isang Himala" played in just 31. For the 2025 MMFF, total box-office receipts were not released at all. The MMDA said this was to avoid a "bandwagon effect" that concentrates audiences on certain films.
Prices and taxes are a barrier for young viewers
In June 2025, filmmaker Fifth Solomon spoke out about the burden of the 10% amusement tax and 12% value-added tax imposed on local films. Educators have also said students cannot afford to go to cinemas on their allowances. As the FDCP study shows, price is one of the main reasons people stay away from cinemas, and young people with less disposable income are more likely to be affected.
Piracy, the invisible competitor
According to a Media Partners Asia study cited by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), about 20 million Filipinos used illegal sites in 2022, and losses from video piracy reached $781 million. Without action, users are projected to rise to 31 million and losses to $1 billion by 2027. The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) puts the piracy rate in the Philippines at 70%.
In a 2021 survey by IPOPHL and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 68% of respondents cited saving money as the main reason for using unauthorized copies of films. IPOPHL reported that it had blocked about 30 illegal sites as of October 2025. Still, the estimated losses are more than 10 times the size of the country's annual box-office receipts, which stood at about $62.62 million in 2025.
What the data show
Taken together, the two perspectives suggest that demand for films in the Philippines has not disappeared but has moved elsewhere. Online video viewing time is among the highest in the world, streaming use keeps growing, and Filipino titles are entering Netflix's global rankings.
Cinemas tell a different story. Box-office receipts remain at less than half of pre-pandemic levels, Hollywood titles dominate the top of the charts, and local films face three barriers: limited screens, ticket prices and audience perceptions.
Young Filipinos are a large group, almost all own smartphones and show a strong affinity for short videos and vlogs. They are price-sensitive and have streaming, free online videos and, in some cases, pirated content as options. Yet when they decide a film is worth seeing as an experience, as with buzzworthy MMFF entries and other hits, they do go to cinemas. The FDCP study's finding that word of mouth is the most effective form of promotion supports the view that reputation on social media drives cinema attendance.
Implications for the industry
The data point to three practical lessons for filmmakers, distributors and brands, including foreign content companies seeking to reach young Filipino audiences.
First, a realistic approach is to treat a theatrical release as the place to create buzz, and streaming and social media as the places where films are watched and shared. Second, because much streaming takes place on television with several people watching together, campaigns aimed at families and groups, not only individual young viewers, are likely to be more effective. Third, in a market where piracy losses far exceed box-office receipts, it is essential to make legitimate options easier to choose, such as low-cost plans and free, ad-supported viewing.
Young Filipinos have not turned away from films. What has changed is where they watch and what they are willing to pay for. The companies that read this shift correctly in the data are the ones most likely to capture the next stage of growth.
Data sources
This report is based on published figures from Box Office Mojo, the Philippine Statistics Authority, DataReportal, Magnite, Netflix, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, De La Salle University, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the MTRCB, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, ABS-CBN and Vivamax, as well as reports by GMA News, the Philippine Star, the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Daily Tribune, SunStar, The LaSallian, Marketing-Interactive and Newsbytes.PH.
