LONDON – The market for Blu-ray and DVD rental in the United Kingdom is expected to plunge by 22 percent during 2013 — from £259 million to £202 million, according to a new forecast from global information firm IHS. While the market has been on the decline for the past several years, 2013 will bring the sharpest predicted annual decrease for the 11-year period from 2007 through 2017.

Part of the drop can be attributed to Blockbuster’s planned restructuring, brought about by the company’s continuing struggle to maintain profitability in the Internet Age. The restructuring plan will result in closure of more than half the company’s UK stores. By the end of 2013, only 264 Blockbuster stores will remain open, down from 530 in 2012. Blockbuster is the largest video rental chain in the country.

The lion’s share of the decrease, though, may attributed to the online market, IHS analysts said. In 2012, brick-and-mortar stores were responsible for 41.3 percent of consumer spending on video rentals. In 2013, however, the store-based sector is projected to generate just 24.7 percent of the overall market. The bulk of the balance will be generated by video websites, which IHS expect to see a massive market-share increase from 58.7 percent in 2012 to 75.3 percent this year.

Not all former DVD-rental customers will become fans of online distribution, IHS analysts said. Instead, they believe pay-TV also will see a market-share increase, though not as dramatic a rise as the online sector’s.

“The year 2013 is set to become a watershed for the U.K. video-rental market as a result of the wholesale closure of Blockbuster UK stores,” said Tony Gunnarsson, senior video analyst at IHS. “The massive downturn in the store-based video-rental market represents a significant loss to the video market and will result in a major decline and radical transformation of the U.K. video market overall.”