Nigeria has Worlds Second Largest Film Industry

Nigeria's film industry is the second largest film/video producer in the world second only to India's Bollywood, according to a global cinema survey conducted by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

According to the survey, Bollywood produced 1,091 feature-length films in 2006 compared to 872 productions (in video format) from Nigeria’s film industry, which is commonly referred to as Nollywood. In contrast, the United States produced 485 major films.

Nollywood is a $200-million (€148-million) business in a country where 70 percent of the population still lives on less than $1 a day. The average Nollywood film cost $20 000.00 to produce compared to $100 million in Hollywood. 

Nigerian filmmakers rely on video instead of film to reduce production costs. And as the survey points out, Nigeria has virtually no formal cinemas. About 99% of screenings occur in informal settings, such as “home theatre.” 

Nollywood is concentrated in downtown Lagos, in the Alaba market area.

SOURCE: UNESCO, ModernGhana.com