Ireland's cinemas are thriving during the economic gloom as people replace the bad news and pessimism with a few hours of escapism. Almost 18 million cinema tickets will have been bought here by the end of the year, according to industry sources, making us the second-biggest cinema-going population in the world.

We go to the cinema an average of 4.5 times a year, more than in the US, which has 4.3 admissions per head.

Iceland – another country in the throes of economic gloom – is the undisputed leader, with 5.8 film tickets sold for every person in the country.

Avatar, with €6.2m worth of admissions, was the most watched film in Ireland this year, while the Toy Story and Shrek franchises also scored highly.

Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After were in second and third place respectively.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was in fifth place while Iron Man 2 and Sex and the City 2 were also in the top 10.

There was a drop from a high of 18.4 million admissions in 2007 at the height of the Celtic Tiger to 17.7 tickets last year but general manager of Carlton Screen Advertising Eoin Wrixon said he was expecting an increase this year.

"The cinema is ingrained in our culture. The figures have climbed quite steadily in Ireland and there was a big jump in the early 2000s," he said.

"We have really strong films in the last quarter of the year. Harry Potter has had an incredible opening weekend. The Little Fockers is out in December
and the Disney movie The Tron Legacy is out just before Christmas, as are the latest film in the Chronicles of Narnia franchise and Gulliver's Travels."

Wrixon believes people are flocking to the movies to get away from the country's economic blues.

"It's escapism," he said. "Everyone is feeling the impact of the recession but the cinema is a relatively cheap night out. It definitely has the feelgood factor. You are locked away for those few hours focusing on the silver screen."

Mark Doherty from the Independent Cinema Association said cinema-goers were looking for light relief when they sat in front of the big screen.

"People want something light. The comedies and romantic comedies are particularly popular at the moment," he said.

"People are looking for relief and something to take their mind off their problems."

He admitted, however, that the country's cinemas were not totally immune to the effects of the recession and predicted they could suffer a decline in admissions.

"We're probably riding the recession better than most sectors but we are still feeling the effects of it. We are having to work that much harder to get people in.

"There are strong titles coming up at the end of the year so we'll have to see how they perform. We could see a drop in admissions."

He said there was a strong traditional of cinema-going in Ireland dating back to the austere, post-emergency 1950s.

"I think it's a generational thing. People remember going to the cinema as children and are used to coming out. It's a great social night out."

Box Office 2010 Cumulative Totals, 1 January-28 November

1. Avatar (2D, 3D + Special Edition) €6,214,107

2. Toy Story 3 (2D + 3D) €5,719,759

3. Shrek Forever After (3D + 2D) €4,387,364

4. Inception €3,938,334

5. Alice in Wonderland (2D + 3D) €3,542,625

6. Sex and the City 2 €3,263,031

7. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse €2,756,908

8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 €2,314,967

9. Iron Man 2 €2,125,132

10. It's Complicated €2,020,003