West End theatre takings are up for the eighth year in a row with ticket sales of £528 million, according to figures released today.
The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) said the success of long-running shows such as Les Miserables and new hits including One Man, Two Guvnors was partly responsible for the success.
The 2011 figures, which include takings at 52 major theatres in and around central London, showed ticket sales were up 3.1% from the year before.
Mark Rubinstein, president of the Society of London Theatre, said: "We are extremely proud that our theatres have yet again gone on to achieve another record-breaking year of sales, with many shows announcing record-breaking runs of their own.
"Despite the prevailing rigours of the economic climate, theatre-goers have acted with their feet and wallets and shown just how much they value a trip to one of our world-class shows.
"We can confirm buoyant box office advances for 2012, a year in which we look forward to welcoming millions more national and international visitors through our theatre doors."
The box office figures show attendances were down slightly on last year to just short of 14 million, which SOLT attributed to big new productions opening, which required theatres to close their doors while they were set up.