Lagos had one licensed cinema for every 337,000 people in 2025

Key Takeaways

  • Lagos alone hosts 51 licensed cinemas, accounting for over half of all exhibition premises in the dataset.
  • The next three states—Ogun, FCT, and Rivers—combined have just 30 cinemas.
  • Only five states have five or more licensed cinemas, highlighting strong geographic concentration.
  • Several large states have two cinemas or fewer, pointing to limited formal exhibition infrastructure outside key urban hubs.

In Nigeria’s regulated film ecosystem, licensed exhibition premises are venues officially authorised by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) to show films to paying audiences, a definition that includes standard cinemas.

Lagos hosts the largest share of licensed cinemas, reflecting both commercial demand and infrastructure investment. This formal exhibition network sits alongside record film classification activity, with the NFVCB approving 1,185 films in 2025, underscoring how a regulated exhibition ecosystem supports Nollywood’s production and distribution pipeline.

Source:

National Film and Video Censors Board

Period:

2025
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