Anime industry in Japan - statistics and facts

The animation industry is one of Japan’s most visually distinctive media industries. While animation works are generally referred to as “anime” in the Japanese language, the term is used in other countries to describe animation specifically produced in Japan or a certain aesthetic associated with Japanese animations and related products. Regular anime programs became a staple of television broadcasting partly due to the pioneering endeavors of Osamu Tezuka, whose animation series “Astro Boy” ran from 1963 to 1966 on Fuji TV and became a major success. Originally aimed at children, anime became more complex and sophisticated as a storytelling medium throughout the decades, making it increasingly compelling for adult audiences. Since the 1980s and 1990s, the medium has also gained immense popularity with consumers in other countries. As a result of these developments, the combined revenue of the domestic market and the overseas market of the anime industry reached a record-setting 2.74 trillion Japanese yen in 2021.

Current state of the industry

Due to the increased demand, the anime industry is currently marked by a high number of shows that are aired every year. Newly broadcast programs clearly outnumber continuously broadcast programs, which leads to a high turnover of shows. A high demand for animation works can also be observed in the case of the film industry, with animated movies ranking regularly at the top of the box office. Examples include the Makoto Shinkai hit “Your Name” in 2016 and the theatrical adaptation of “Demon Slayer,” which was released in 2020 and became Japan’s highest-grossing movie to date. The boom in animation has led to an increase in animation companies since the turn of the millennium. Animation works are often produced by so-called production committees, which consist of different corporations specializing in a certain field of business. While this cooperation reduces each company's risk and enables specialization in a market where success remains difficult to predict, the actual production companies earn only a fraction of the generated revenues. As a result, animators are often severely underpaid, and many quit in the first years of their careers.

Anime and the streaming wars

A breakdown of the industry revenue by segment shows that merchandising is by far the most valuable business within the domestic market. High growth potential is seen particularly in the case of anime streaming. The competition between major platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, has spurred on the Japanese streaming market and opened up new possibilities for animation production companies. These companies are increasingly in demand as content creators and can request a higher compensation per single episode. Cooperations with major video streaming services have become a lucrative business and have led to many shows being created with international audiences in mind. To better position itself in the distribution market, Sony acquired the anime streaming website Crunchyroll for almost 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, which can be seen as a further indicator of the importance streaming will likely have for the anime industry in the coming years.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 14, 2023

Key insights

Domestic revenue of the animation industry
1.4tr JPY
Overseas revenue of the animation industry
1.3tr JPY
Share of television viewers who often watch anime
21.5%
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Total revenue of the animation industry in Japan from 2012 to 2021 (in trillion Japanese yen)

TV, Video & Film

Total revenue of the anime industry Japan 2012-2021

Revenue of the animation industry in Japan in 2021, by segment (in billion Japanese yen)

TV, Video & Film

Revenue of the anime industry Japan 2021, by segment

Overseas revenue of the animation industry in Japan from 2012 to 2021 (in trillion Japanese yen)

TV, Video & Film

Overseas revenue of the anime industry Japan 2012-2021

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