Increase in cinema admissions in first half of 2009. With an estimated 348 million tickets sold in the first half of 2009, cinema admissions in the big 5 European Union markets increased by 3.8% year-on-year, the European Audiovisual Observatory has revealed. Cumulative growth was primarily driven by an impressive 14.5% rise in the UK, representing the strongest result in seven years, as well as increasing cinema attendance in Germany (+6.5%) and in Spain (+7.9%). The 4.4% year-on-year decline France is explained by to the exceptional success of Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis in the first half of 2008. Strong results in July and August may yet reverse the full year trend, however. The European Audiovisual Observatory estimates that the cumulative results for France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain account for about 76% of total admissions in the European Union. The development of these five markets generally serves as a good indicator for the overall European trend. The growth in the big 5 markets as well as strong half-year results in many other European countries such as Sweden (+27%), Poland (+16%), the Netherlands (+12.3%), Norway (+8.1%), Denmark (+7%), the Czech Republic (+6.8%), Hungary (+6.2%), Ireland (+1.8%) or Portugal (+1.3%), suggest that despite the difficult economic environment cinema admissions across Europe increased in the first six months of 2009. (I.L.)