Australia’s live performance industry recorded marginal drops in overall ticket revenue and attendance in 2025 against a backdrop of challenging business conditions and cost-of-living pressures for audiences.
The industry generated $3.4 billion in ticket revenue in 2025, which was down by 0.1% on the previous year. Ticketed attendance fell by 2.4% to 30.7 million. They are the second-highest results since the report’s inception in 2004.
Only five of 12 live performance categories recorded year-on-year growth in both revenue and attendance: Circus and Physical Theatre; Classical Music; Contemporary music and Multi-category Festivals; and Opera.
Contemporary music concerts and festivals continue to drive the live performance industry, accounting for over 65% of total revenue and more than 51% of total attendance. Major international acts and touring productions continued to attract strong audiences.
Contemporary music concerts generated almost $1.8 billion in revenue and 13.7 million attendances, close to the record levels of 2024. Contemporary music festivals recorded growth in revenue by 20.7% to $399.9m and attendance by 4.9% to 2.1 million in 2025, reflecting the return of some key festivals in 2025. The increase in average ticket price by 14.1% per cent to $206.17 further contributed to the growth in revenue and reflected increased costs for organisers.
While attendance and revenue for contemporary music categories remained strong overall, there were mixed results for theatrical categories.
Circus and Physical Theatre and Opera recorded increases. However, Ballet and Dance, Children’s/Family, Musical Theatre and Theatre all recorded declines in both attendance and revenue.
The largest decline was for Musical Theatre which dropped by over 16% for both revenue and attendance in 2025.
The overall average ticket price increased by 2.4% to $117.83. While some categories recorded higher increases, the increase in average ticket prices for more than half of live performance categories were below the inflation rate of 3.8% during 2025.
Live Performance Australia CEO Eric Lassen said:
‘Australians love their live performance experiences but are under more intense cost-of-living pressures and being more selective in their ticket buying choices which led to a softening in overall demand in 2025.
‘At the same time, our producers and presenters are grappling with rising costs of production and touring which is reducing operating margins and increasing financial risk, particularly in the theatrical sector.
‘There will always be some variability in the overall revenue and attendance figures depending on touring and production cycles, particularly for big international acts, but we also need to address the longer-term structural challenges for the industry if it’s to have a sustainable future.
‘LPA’s proposal for a live performance production incentive is an internationally tried and tested model to attract investment and improve financial sustainability for live performance businesses and organisations.
‘In challenging business and economic conditions more broadly, it’s exactly the kind of practical confidence building measure we need to set our industry up for success over the medium to longer term that will return a positive economic and cultural dividend,’ Mr Lassen said.
The complete 2025 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report is available here.
2025 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue by category
| Category | Revenue | % change from 2024 | Attendance | % change from 2024 |
| Ballet and Dance | $69,595,885 | (4.7%) | 699,380 | (3.4%) |
| Children’s/Family | $70,677,102 | (8.4%) | 1,794,707 | (5.4%) |
| Circus and Physical Theatre* | $64,674,071 | 159.6% | 727,473 | 88.1% |
| Classical Music | $133,079,955 | 28.6% | 1,484,317 | 6.7% |
| Comedy | $129,905,173 | (24.0%) | 2,187,275 | (10.2%) |
| Contemporary Music | $1,794,208,278 | (0.9%) | 13,744,540 | (2.4%) |
| Festivals (Contemporary Music) | $399,885,481 | 20.7% | 2,108,737 | 4.9% |
| Festivals (Multi-category) | $92,620,164 | 10.1% | 2,455,531 | 10.1% |
| Musical Theatre | $442,298,542 | (16.8%) | 3,651,468 | (16.6%) |
| Opera | $46,012,447 | 48.0% | 356,403 | 33.2% |
| Special Events | $6,964,987 | (30.1%) | 234,940 | (10.4%) |
| Theatre | $101,386,608 | (3.8%) | 1,260,082 | (9.1%) |
| Total | $3,351,308,693 | (0.1%) | 30,704,853 | (2.4%) |
*Growth in this category fluctuates annually due to international touring. The significant growth in 2025 was primarily driven by the inclusion of data from Cirque du Soleil’s national tour of Corteo, whereas data for Cirque du Soleil’s 2024 tour of LUZIA was not captured. Other top events included Now You See Me Live, Blanc de Blanc Encore, Penn & Teller and Cirque Alice. Despite this growth, Circus and Physical Theatre accounted for a relatively small share of total industry revenue (1.9%) and attendance (2.4%).
