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LOG ANGELES, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The global box office showed continued strength in 2016, rising 1 percent over last year's record-breaking figures to reach a new high of 38.6 billion U.S. dollars, said the annual report released Wednesday by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
"The continued strength of the box office demonstrates that cinema remains the premier way to experience great storytelling for audience around the world," said Chris Dodd, chairman of the MPAA.
The annual Theatrical Market Statistics Report said the box office in the United States and Canada hit 11.4 billion dollars, a 2-percent improvement over 2015. The total number of moviegoers in the region also rose by 2 percentage points to reach 71 percent, or 246 million people.
"In the United States and Canada, there are key indicators that suggest the future may be even brighter, with increases in attendance among younger demographics and diverse communities in particular," said the MPAA chairman.
The box office in the Asia Pacific region hit 14.9 billion dollars, increasing 5 percent compared to 2015. After over a decade of consecutive gains, the Chinese box office in 2016 decreased 1 percent in U.S. dollars from 2015.
In 2016, compared with 2015, the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) box office decreased 2 percent and the Latin America box office decreased 18 percent in U.S. dollars.
The robust 2016 global box office was accompanied by continued investment in cinema infrastructure. The total number of cinema screens worldwide increased by 8 percent in 2016 to nearly 164,000, in a large part due to continued double digit growth across the Asia Pacific region.
"The film industry continues to thrive because every facet of the industry -- production, distribution, and exhibition -- is relentlessly innovating to bring new stories to life on the big screen," Dodd added.
MPAA is a lobby group representing the six biggest studios of Hollywood.
