Contents
- Opera ticket sales statistics: Australian opera revenue, attendance and average prices, 2010–2024
- Opera ticket sales statistics: Australian year-over-year changes and pandemic disruption
- Opera ticket sales statistics: 2024 Australian state revenue and attendance
- Opera ticket sales statistics: North American company ticket revenue and sales
- Opera ticket sales statistics: European ticket occupancy and company differences
- Sources
Opera ticket sales statistics: Australian opera revenue, attendance and average prices, 2010–2024
Australia’s category-level Opera series reports ticket revenue, total attendance and average ticket price by calendar year. These measures describe different parts of ticket activity: revenue is expressed in dollars, attendance is a count, and average ticket price is separately reported in dollars. The figures below preserve those printed measures rather than deriving one from another. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
The 2010 observations were $40,128,943 in revenue and an average ticket price of $112.86. In 2011, revenue was $47,305,786 and the average price was $124.66. In 2012, revenue reached $47,843,971, the highest value in the report’s 2010–2024 annual series, while the average ticket price was $126.84. In 2013, revenue was $43,283,705 and average price was $145.28. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
| Calendar year | Opera ticket revenue | Average ticket price |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | $40,128,943 | $112.86 |
| 2011 | $47,305,786 | $124.66 |
| 2012 | $47,843,971 | $126.84 |
| 2013 | $43,283,705 | $145.28 |
| 2014 | $42,620,749 | $124.92 |
| 2015 | $41,505,346 | $121.43 |
| 2017 | $36,349,186 | $115.42 |
| 2018 | $46,965,221 | — |
The table shows selected observations, not every year in the report’s annual series. For 2014, revenue was $42,620,749 and average ticket price was $124.92; for 2015, the corresponding figures were $41,505,346 and $121.43. Revenue in 2017 was $36,349,186, with an average price of $115.42. Revenue in 2018 was $46,965,221. That same year, attendance reached 487,195, the highest attendance value in the report’s 2010–2024 series. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
The revenue maximum and attendance maximum occur in different years: the report records its highest annual revenue in 2012 and highest attendance in 2018. The average-price column also has its own values and should be read as published, rather than treated as a proxy for the number of tickets sold. These observations establish points within a 15-year calendar-year series, while the later sections focus on the more recent disruption and state breakdown. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
Opera ticket sales statistics: Australian year-over-year changes and pandemic disruption
The report’s year-over-year figures show a sharp decline in 2020, followed by an increase in revenue and attendance in 2021. Australian Opera attendance was 435,525 in 2019 and 147,982 in 2020. Revenue in 2020 was $11,313,725, down 71.9% year over year. These are calendar-year comparisons in the same national category. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
In 2021, revenue was $15,649,421, up 38.3% from 2020. Attendance was 151,299, up 2.2%, and average ticket price was $118.94, up 36.0%. The three indicators therefore moved upward over the reported year, but by different percentages. The source documents the changes and figures; it does not establish the reasons behind them. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
| Calendar year | Revenue | Revenue growth | Attendance | Attendance growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | — | — | 435,525 | — |
| 2020 | $11,313,725 | -71.9% | 147,982 | — |
| 2021 | $15,649,421 | 38.3% | 151,299 | 2.2% |
| 2023 | $39,944,472 | — | 321,477 | — |
| 2024 | $31,079,042 | -22.2% | 267,493 | -16.8% |
The later comparison also records declines from 2023 to 2024. Revenue fell from $39,944,472 to $31,079,042, a 22.2% year-over-year decrease. Attendance fell from 321,477 to 267,493, a 16.8% decrease. The different rates are reported measures; no additional relationship between ticket prices, attendance and revenue is calculated here. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
The 2020 contraction and the subsequent 2021 increases provide one view of pandemic-era disruption in this series. The 2023–2024 movement shows that, after the values reported for 2023, both revenue and attendance were lower in 2024. The available observations do not explain causes or establish that the Australian pattern applies to other countries. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
Opera ticket sales statistics: 2024 Australian state revenue and attendance
The 2024 state and territory tables show where Australian Opera revenue and attendance were recorded. New South Wales reported revenue of $23,493,870 and attendance of 177,497. Victoria reported revenue of $3,885,891 and attendance of 47,220. Queensland’s reported revenue was $816,492. Western Australia reported $1,447,339, South Australia $1,408,798, and Tasmania $26,652. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
| State or territory | Opera revenue, 2024 | Opera attendance, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $23,493,870 | 177,497 |
| Victoria | $3,885,891 | 47,220 |
| Queensland | $816,492 | — |
| Western Australia | $1,447,339 | — |
| South Australia | $1,408,798 | — |
| Tasmania | $26,652 | — |
| Australian Capital Territory | $0 | — |
| Northern Territory | $0 | — |
The source reports $0 in opera revenue for both the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory in 2024. A reported zero is distinct from a missing value: the supplied state-table observations do not include attendance figures for these rows, so none are inferred. The state data are a single calendar-year snapshot and do not show a state-by-state trend over time. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
These figures should be read as the report’s Opera category by state or territory, with revenue and attendance kept as separate measures. New South Wales is the largest of the listed revenue observations, and the only other state with a supplied attendance figure here is Victoria. The report’s state tables provide the measures shown, but do not support claims about why the reported amounts differ. Source: 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report
Opera ticket sales statistics: North American company ticket revenue and sales
OPERA America’s ticket overview reports average values by company for survey respondents. Its figures are not nationwide totals. The report says 68 of 203 Professional Company Members submitted survey responses, so the averages describe that respondent group. In 2018–2019, the all-company average total ticket revenue was $1,797,497 and the average total tickets count was 18,663. In 2022–2023, those averages were $1,407,593 and 14,741, respectively. Source: OPERA America, 2023 Annual Field Report
| Survey season | Average total ticket revenue, all companies | Average total tickets count, all companies |
|---|---|---|
| 2018–2019 | $1,797,497 | 18,663 |
| 2022–2023 | $1,407,593 | 14,741 |
The report’s change rows show average all-company ticket revenue down 21.7% and average tickets count down 21.0% between the 2018–2019 and 2022–2023 seasons. It also reports the average share of tickets marked “new to file” as 30.9% in 2018–2019 and 32.9% in 2022–2023. That label is presented as a survey metric; it should not be interpreted as a measure of total audience growth. Source: OPERA America, 2023 Annual Field Report
The budget-group figures add company-size context to the revenue averages. Budget 1 companies averaged $10,258,631 in total ticket revenue in 2018–2019 and $7,721,988 in 2022–2023; the reported change was -24.7%. Budget 2 companies averaged $1,654,406 in 2018–2019 and $1,351,928 in 2022–2023. Budget 3 companies averaged $388,887 in 2018–2019. These are average revenues for the specified respondent groups and seasons, not pooled totals for all companies in each budget category. Source: OPERA America, 2023 Annual Field Report
Opera ticket sales statistics: European ticket occupancy and company differences
Opera Europa reports the average proportion of available tickets sold among its survey respondents. The 2023 survey data show an average of 69.2%; the 2024 survey data show 78.1%. The survey labels refer to the preceding season or fiscal year, depending on how each company reports its data, so they are not necessarily identical calendar-year windows. Source: Opera Europa, OE News, December 2024, No. 86
The company-level spread also differed across those survey findings. In 2023, individual results ranged from 14.3% to 95.9%, and 16% of companies sold fewer than 50% of their available tickets. In 2024, the individual results ranged from 43.6% to 97.3%, while 2% of companies sold fewer than 50% of available tickets. These figures show both the reported average and variation among respondents; they are not a census of every European opera company. Source: Opera Europa, OE News, December 2024, No. 86
A separate Opera Europa initial survey finding reports an 83.1% occupancy rate for festival companies, described as 83.1% of available tickets sold. The survey covers the 2023–24 season or 2024 fiscal year depending on company reporting, and the result is disaggregated by production model. It is therefore a model-specific respondent figure, not a directly interchangeable national or company-wide average. Source: Opera Europa, “Headlines from Opera Europa’s latest Annual Survey”