The UK Film Council have today published their Statistical Yearbook online, and it paints a very healthy picture despite the economical climate.

Of particular interest is this page, the Top 20 UK Films, which shows UK funded and part funded productions with some obvious (Harry Potter), some which were surprise hits (Sherlock Holmes) and some outstanding independent films (Moon).

Putting it all in context, and there is a lot of context, the UK film industry is putting out some very impressive films with the results that the audience grew 6% last year, reaching 173.5 million in 2009. One statistic in particular is worth paying attention, not because of its figures for 2009, but for how the growth will be seen in 2010’s results: 3D films accounted for 16% of UK and Republic of Ireland box office revenues in 2009 (£176 million), up from just 0.4% in 2008.

The UK Film Council point to the 3D spectaculars such as Pixar’s Up, Ice Age 3 and James Cameron’s Avatar, and the emergence of 3D cinema as one of the key reasons the UK box office saw its highest admissions since 2002, and this is sure to grow this year.

UK films did well abroad as well with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince earning half ($900 million) of the total earnings for the top ten UK films, with Danny Boyle’s Oscar magnet Slumdog Millionaire doing great work here and overseas.

I’ve copied in the Top 20 UK films below, but do check out the report to find out more.

1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince UK/USA 50.72 Warner Bros
2 Slumdog Millionaire UK 31.66 Pathé
3 Sherlock Holmes* UK/USA 25.71 Warner Bros
4 Fantastic Mr. Fox* UK/USA 9.03 20th Century Fox
5 St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold* UK 7.07 Entertainment
6 The Boat That Rocked UK/USA 6.23 Universal
7 Nativity UK 5.20 E1 Films
8 The Young Victoria UK/USA 5.11 Momentum
9 Planet 51* UK/Spa 4.91 Entertainment
10 Harry Brown* UK 4.56 Lions Gate
11 The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus* UK/Can 3.94 Lions Gate
12 Nine* UK/USA 3.23 Entertainment
13 Dorian Gray UK 2.97 Momentum
14 The Damned United UK/USA 2.24 Sony Pictures
15 An Education* UK/USA 2.24 E1 Films
16 In the Loop UK 2.16 Optimum
17 Last Chance Harvey UK/USA 2.14 Momentum
18 Lesbian Vampire Killers UK 1.67 Momentum
19 Moon UK 1.32 Sony Pictures
20 Looking for Eric UK/Fra/Bel/Ita 1.31 Icon