Pollstar’s Top 100 Tours in North America shows concert goers purchased 40.5 million tickets during 2009 – not only a 12 percent increase over the previous year, but also a new record beating out 2003’s 38.7 million benchmark.

What’s more, the average number of tickets sold by the Top 100 Tours experienced a slight upward tick – 10,018, an eight percent rise over the previous year’s 9,231 average.

The total combined gross of the Top 100 Tours also established a new high by reaching $2.53 billion, a 4 percent increase over the previous year when the chart yielded a combined gross of $2.43 billion.

But looking deeper into the numbers shows the average gross per show among the Top 100 Tours declined during 2009, dropping by nearly $29,000 to $626,813, although many artists made up for the loss by playing more markets than in previous years.

Average ticket prices were also lower than previous years – a first since we began compiling pricing data in 1996 when the average ticket went for only $25.81. In 2009 the average ticket price was $62.57, a seven percent decrease from 2008’s record high of $67.33.

Of course, charts like the ones mentioned above don’t reveal how many people took advantage of layaway and installment plans offered by festivals. Or, for that matter, how many people sunk deeper in debt by putting ticket purchases on their credit cards.

How about you? Did you buy more, less or the same amount of tickets in 2009 than you did the previous year? Did you max out the plastic or pay cash? Did ticket prices seem cheaper to you? Come on, add a human element to the our 2009 charts by leaving a comment in the thread below.

Click here for Pollstar’s Top 100 Tours in North America.