<< Home First Colombian Film Industry Bulletin A project designed by Fedesarrollo for Proimágenes 3. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON   Colombia, with 45.5 million inhabitants, has the third largest population in Latin America after Brazil (193.3 million) and Mexico (108.6 million). Chile and Brazil head the list of Latin American countries with the largest per capita income with USD $11,828 and USD $10,816, respectively. The GNP per capita in Colombia is USD $6,273.   The number of moviegoers in countries such as the US and Spain has dropped in recent years. This decline meant an annual loss of 230 million viewers in the US from 2002 to 2010. Over the last decade, attendance in certain Latin American countries such as Mexico and Brazil has risen significantly. During these ten years, the number of viewers in Mexico increased by 100 million viewers and by 67 million in Brazil. In the past five years, attendance in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Chile doubled. However, there is still a lot of room for growth in these countries.   While movie attendance (number of admissions per capita) has stagnated in developed markets, in Latin America it is on the rise. The drop in admissions in developed markets such as the US and Spain is even greater when seen in terms of population (attendance index) rather than in absolute terms. Mexico has the highest Latin American attendance index, with close to two admissions annually per capita. Colombia stands out among medium-size Latin American countries due to the notable increase in attendance but has yet to reach the one attendance per year per capita mark.   Spain and Argentina lead in production of Ibero-American films. In 2009, Spain released 137 national productions and in Argentina in 2010, 84 national films were released. Colombian film productions rank among the region's second group, behind large producers (Argentina, Brazil and Mexico) and producing on a level with Chile, where a total of 15 films were released in 2009.   The most heavily attended national releases in Ibero-American nations are in Brazil, Spain and Mexico (the three most heavily populated countries). Colombia falls into the region's second group, with less attendance than in Argentina and more than in Chile.   The gap between the region's largest nations and Colombia narrows when one analyzes national film attendance based on relative population. Colombia is third in the Latin American attendance index after Mexico. Although attendance figures for 2011 for all of Latin America are as yet unknown, Colombia is sure to stand out given its high attendance at national releases.