English
Global spending on Japanese anime hit a record JPY4.45 trillion, equivalent to $28.2 billion, in 2025. That figure marks a 15.8% increase over the previous year, itself a record growth rate. Overseas consumers now account for more than half of total anime spending worldwide.
Record Growth at Home and Abroad
Hasegawa Masahiro, editor-in-chief of the Association of Japanese Animations’ annual Anime Industry Report, presented the preliminary data at TIFFCOM, the market event attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival. The final figures will appear in the full 2026 edition of the report, due in December.
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Overseas revenue climbed 17.2% to JPY2.54 trillion ($16.1 billion). Meanwhile, the domestic market grew 14.1% to JPY1.91 trillion ($12.1 billion). As a result, the overseas share of total anime revenue rose to 57.1%, up from 56.5% the year before.
Hasegawa noted that 2025 broke a long-standing pattern. For years, the Japanese home market grew slowly while overseas demand surged. In 2025, however, both sides expanded strongly at the same time. Overseas revenue first overtook domestic revenue in 2023, and the gap has continued to widen. He cautioned that exchange rates and broader global conditions influence the figures, and that overseas totals reflect a range of market factors beyond individual title performance.
Studio Revenue and Rights Management
The AJA tracks the anime business using two separate measures. The broader figure estimates total consumer spending across TV, film, streaming, merchandise, music and live events. A narrower measure focuses on revenue earned directly by animation studios. That studio figure rose 8.4% to a record JPY505.5 billion ($3.2 billion), though the pace was slightly slower than the 9.1% growth recorded in 2024.
Overseas business made up 27.9% of studio revenue, up from 25.5% in 2024. Hasegawa explained that studios do not always deal directly with international partners, which keeps that share relatively low. He added that more studios are now managing their own intellectual property to generate long-term revenue. “The idea of studios holding the rights to their own works and managing them to generate revenue is growing year by year,” he said.
Global Popularity and IMDb Rankings
Hasegawa pointed to strong box office results for Japanese titles in multiple territories and high placements on global streaming charts. “Just last week, I saw a report that a Japanese anime was No. 2 globally,” he said. “I believe the breakthrough has truly been achieved.”
Japanese anime titles now make up 100 of the 300 most-voted TV series on IMDb, including nine of the top 20. “Attack on Titan” leads the overall ranking with 726,000 votes, placing ahead of “Rick and Morty.” “Death Note” ranks third and “One Piece” ninth. Other Japanese titles in the top 20 include “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” “Demon Slayer,” “One-Punch Man,” “Naruto Shippuden,” “Jujutsu Kaisen” and “Hunter x Hunter.”
Government Export Targets and Future Growth
These figures feed into a Japanese government target of JPY20 trillion ($126.9 billion) in total content exports by 2033. Anime alone is expected to contribute JPY6 trillion ($38.1 billion) of that total. In 2024, Japanese content earned JPY6.1 trillion ($38.7 billion) abroad, with anime accounting for roughly one-third.
Studios identified two key priorities for international growth: localization adapted to local language, culture and law, and stronger anti-piracy measures. Hasegawa also highlighted the potential of family anime, a category with broad generational appeal in Japan, as a future driver of merchandise sales overseas.
Ishikawa Kazuko, who leads both the AJA and Nippon Animation, opened the session with a call to support creators. “Above all, it is essential that we build a better environment in which the creators who make the works, and everyone involved in production management, can devote themselves to creating with peace of mind,” she said.
