Japan’s anime industry grows to record $25bn, boosted by overseas market

The Japanese animation industry generated $25.3bn (¥3.84tn) in 2024, marking a 14.8% rise year-on-year and setting a new record, according to a report by the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA).

The figure represents a sizable boost on 2023, when the industry brought in $21.7bn (¥3.35tn). A decade ago, in 2014, the industry reported $10.6bn (¥1.64tn).

The AJA revealed its initial findings TIFFCOM, the market affiliated with Tokyo International Film Festival, on Thursday (October 30) ahead of the publication of its full annual report in December.

For the second consecutive year, anime made more money outside Japan than locally: $14bn (¥2.17tn) versus $10.8bn (¥1.67tn) respectively. That means local grosses rose 3% YOY while overseas sales rose 26%, reflecting the growing interest in anime abroad.

Overseas sales first surpassed local in 2020 before flipping in 2021, perhaps due to the Covid-19 pandemic, before flipping again in 2022.

The figures represent the total revenues for the industry, which includes all spending across anime-related products, including merchandise. AJA also includes narrower “production market” numbers, which include only the sales of anime production companies.

That number reached $3bn (¥466.2bn) in 2024, also a new record and 9% up on the previous year. In comparison to the overall market, production companies still make most of their sales locally: $2.3mbn (¥347bn) versus $722m (¥119bn).

While the topline numbers for anime production companies have increased, a recent survey by Teikoku Databank revealed that 20.9% of production companies saw a revenue decline in 2024, while 41.8% remained flat. Teikoku reports that soaring production costs and labour expenses outpace growth for many studios, and that while blockbuster productions by large firms account for the overall increase, small-to medium-sized firms are less likely to reap the same rewards.

Animated films dominated the Japanese box office in 2024 with franchises like Detective Conan, Haikyu!!, Spy x Family and Mobile Suit Gundam earning places in the top 10.

The Japanese government’s “Cool Japan” soft power initiative, of which animation is a major pillar, aims to expand the overseas market for content originating from Japan to $130bn (¥20tn) by 2033, more than four times the current level.

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