Enormous thanks to everyone who contributed to the latest edition of Annual Survey! This year was a record – 119 replies from companies in 31 countries – and represents a 37% increase in responses compared with the previous edition.
Background
For the third year running, Opera Europa asked its members to share key data in four areas – income, staffing and resources, productions and performances, ticket sales – for the season 2023-24 or 2024 fiscal year. The results of the Annual Survey enable us to build a deeper understanding of trends and developments in the sector, among members and other stakeholders. They can be used for ad hoc benchmarking needs by our members on request. They also permit us, on behalf of the sector, to coordinate advocacy efforts in the interests of opera and dance. Survey results inform Opera Europa’s future plans, enabling us to meet members’ needs and, finally, when enough data is gathered, we can undertake benchmarking across different national contexts or scales of company.
Since la rentrée, here at Opera Europa HQ we have been busy reviewing the data and making our first analyses. On 28 January 2026, we will present the full findings of the Annual Survey at an online session.
Initial findings
Until then, here are a few headlines from our initial findings, disaggregated by production model. Be sure to join us in January to find out much more!
Festivals
Of the models explored, festivals have the highest box office as a proportion of overall income at 31.8%. The average annual budget is nearly €10m. With an average total workforce of 326 people per year, just 38 of these are permanent members of staff. Opera accounts for 73.2% of all productions across the artistic programme. Festivals have the lowest proportion of performances for children and young people (6.3% of all performances). Festivals have the highest occupancy rate (though only just!) with 83.1% of available tickets sold. While 4 of 5 festivals offer experiences to audiences for free, that was the lowest rate of any production model.
Repertoire
Public funding accounts for 68.3% of repertoire companies’ overall income – the highest proportion of any model. Private funding is the lowest across models at 5%. As you would expect, the vast majority of companies have in-house resources for sets and costume, ensemble of soloists, plus orchestra, chorus and dance company (in each case, well over 80%). While opera productions account for over 40.1% of all productions, dance and drama come in at just over 20% each, with productions for young people at almost 17%. The occupancy rate and offer of free experiences is similar to festivals, at 82.3% occupancy and 80.5% giving some free access.
Semi-stagione
Semi-stagione companies have the highest overall income, with an average annual income of over €59m. Private funding is the second highest here (after festivals) at 12.1% of the total. Here we find the largest average number of people employed, both among permanent staff (684 people) and people on short contracts/freelancers (533 people). The artistic programme includes the greatest proportion of drama, both as productions (29.3% of all productions) and performances (36.7%). In fact, as a number of performances, there is more drama on offer than opera! This model has the greatest overall number of performances, at 430 in total. The occupancy rate is in line with festival and repertoire models, at 82%.
Stagione
After festivals, the stagione model had the highest rate of box office as proportion of proportion of income, at 20.5%. Public funding accounts for 63.7%, broadly in line with repertoire, semi-stagione and touring models. Although the freelance workforce is roughly the same as for repertoire companies, the number of permanent staff is lower at an average of 248. Far fewer companies have their own in-house resources, though still around 50% have an in-house chorus and orchestra. On average, stagione companies give 140 performances per season. Performances for children and young people account for 23.4% of all performances, the second highest figure across models, and 11.3% of tickets sold are for such productions. At 75.6%, stagione companies have the second-lowest occupancy rate.
Touring
Last but not least! Touring companies reported the lowest overall income, at an average of €7.9m annually. They also have the lowest box office as a proportion of income, at 8.7%. The number of people employed is smallest, at an average of 252 people, though the permanent workforce is larger than for festivals (76 people compared with 38 people). On average, touring companies give 31 opera performances of 4 opera productions a year, as part of the wider artistic programme. These companies have the highest rate of productions for children and young people as a proportion of overall productions. The occupancy rate is lowest here at 61.7%, though with an average of almost 50,000 tickets sold per season, each company’s reach is considerable!
Further details about the online presentation on 28 January will follow via the General Directors’ mailing list. If you have queries about this, or any other aspect of Opera Europa’s research activities, please contact Hannah, hannah@opera-europa.org