Japan's anime industry hits a record $28.5 billion as overseas fans drive growth

Japan's animation industry set another record in 2025. Total sales reached $28.5 billion, or 4.5 trillion yen, up 15.8 percent in yen terms from 2024, according to figures from the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA). Overseas revenue came to around $16 billion and the domestic market to around $12 billion. The association shared the numbers, along with highlights from its Anime Industry Report 2026, at TIFFCOM, the content market of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

A record year, led by overseas fans

The headline number is broad. The AJA counts total revenue across the industry, including box office, streaming and TV rights, licensing deals, merchandising, music, events and concerts. NHK World reported that the combined market across nine categories rose about 16 percent to a record 4.44 trillion yen, the fifth straight record year. It was the first time the figure passed 4 trillion yen, and the growth rate was also a record.

Overseas demand did most of the lifting. Anime News Network, citing the AJA figures, reported that the overseas market grew 17.2% to 2.54 trillion yen, about US$16.1 billion, while the domestic market grew 14.1% to 1.91 trillion yen, about US$12.1 billion. NHK put overseas at about 60 percent of the total. Overseas sales first overtook the domestic market in 2020, and 2025 was the fourth year that foreign revenue came out ahead.

One film did a lot of work. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle took around $800 million globally, though some of that came in 2026, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It earned around $250 million, or 40 billion yen, in Japan, making it the highest-grossing anime and Japanese film of all time. The previous film in the franchise also grossed 40 billion yen in Japan but was not as big a hit overseas.

The longer trend is just as striking. The 2025 figures follow growth of almost 15 percent the year before, to a record $25 billion. The market has almost tripled since the association began reporting industry figures in 2002.

The studios are earning more, too

The narrower measure, revenue at the animation studios themselves, also grew. It rose 8.4 percent to $3.2 billion, with overseas business accounting for a record $880 million, The Hollywood Reporter said. Anime News Network reported that overseas business made up 27.9% of studio revenue.

The gap between the two measures matters. The wider market estimates what fans and buyers pay across every format, while studio revenue covers only the companies directly involved in production. There are signs studios want a bigger slice. Masahiro Hasegawa, the report's chief editor, said more production companies are taking an equity position in their works, holding on to the intellectual property so they can share in overseas revenue.

Currency also shapes the picture. The weak yen shrinks all the figures when they are reported in dollars, but it boosts the overseas earnings of Japanese animation companies when they bring that cash home.

Kazuko Ishikawa, president of the AJA and of Nippon Animation, framed the priority in her opening remarks: "More than anything else, it is vital that we build a good ecosystem for the creators who develop the productions, and all the people around them, so they can concentrate on creating stories."

Why it matters for people building things

For founders and creators, anime is a clear case study in the value of owning intellectual property. A single film can lift an entire industry's numbers, and the money from a hit spreads across streaming, licensing, merchandise and live events, which is why holding the rights matters. The studios' move toward equity stakes is the same lesson many independent creators learn: doing the work for a fee caps the upside, while owning a share of the work keeps it open.

It is also a reminder that global audiences are reachable for niche-feeling products. Anime grew from a domestic business into one where most of the money now comes from abroad. Hasegawa noted that many of the highest-ranked TV series by votes on IMDb are anime, with Attack on Titan at the top. Businesses built around fandom, whether merchandise, events, localization or tools for creators, sit close to that growth.

What to watch

The AJA will publish the full Anime Industry Report 2026 in early December. Japan has also set a target of $130 billion, or 20 trillion yen, in overseas sales of Japanese content by 2033, with anime expected to account for 6 trillion yen of that. Watch whether overseas growth holds without a film the size of Infinity Castle, whether more studios keep a share of the rights to their work, and how currency moves change the dollar picture.

Sources

• Japan's anime industry revenue hits record $28 billion in 2025, The Hollywood Reporter
• Anime Market Grew 15.8% to Record 4.45 Trillion Yen in 2025, Anime News Network
• Japanese anime market hits record high in 2025, NHK World-Japan