Japanese anime had its biggest year on record in 2025. Preliminary figures from the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), presented on October 30 at TIFFCOM, the market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival, put the anime market at 4.45 trillion yen — about US$ 28.2 billion —, up 15.8% on 2024. It is the first time the sector has passed the 4 trillion yen mark, and the growth rate itself is a record, beating the 15.7% of the previous year.
Overseas spending drove the result, but Japan also grew strongly. International revenue rose 17.2% to 2.54 trillion yen (about US$ 16.1 billion) and reached 57.1% of the total, up from 56.5% in 2024. The domestic market grew 14.1% to 1.906 trillion yen (about US$ 12.1 billion), regaining momentum after single-digit growth in 2024. It is the third consecutive year in which international spending has exceeded the Japanese market.
Masahiro Hasegawa, editorial supervisor of the AJA's annual report, noted that both markets grew together in 2025, in contrast to recent years, when overseas growth outpaced the domestic market. In his view, Japanese animation has entered an era in which topping international box office charts and streaming rankings is no longer unusual.
Studios grow more slowly than the market
Revenue earned directly by Japanese animation studios also hit a record, but at a slower pace: up 8.4% to 505.5 billion yen (about US$ 3.2 billion). Domestic contracts accounted for 364.7 billion yen (72.1%) and foreign contracts for 140.8 billion yen (27.9%), a share up from 25.5% in 2024, as more international partners deal directly with Japanese studios.
The gap between the two figures tells another story: studios take only 11% to 13% of the total market, which includes consumer spending on TV, film, streaming, merchandise, music and events. Almost 90% of commercial spending stays with distributors, retailers and investment committees — one reason why the sector's record does not by itself resolve long-standing concerns about animators' pay and working conditions.
Box office and streaming drove 2025
Cinema was one of the year's main engines, led by Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which adapted the story's final arc and earned almost US$ 800 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Japanese film globally. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc, produced entirely by MAPPA outside the traditional production-committee structure, earned more than US$ 190 million. On streaming, anime titles frequently topped the charts on Netflix and other platforms, and anime accounts for 100 of the 300 most-voted TV series on IMDb, including nine of the top 20, led by Attack on Titan.
What comes next
The figures are preliminary: the final data will appear in the 2026 edition of the Anime Industry Report, due in December. Hasegawa also cautioned that exchange rates and global conditions affect year-on-year comparisons. To sustain the expansion, Japan plans to create a public-private corporation in fiscal 2027 to accelerate the international growth of anime, manga and games, replacing the Cool Japan Fund, dissolved after accumulating about 54 billion yen in debt. The government's target is 20 trillion yen in overseas content sales by 2033, with anime accounting for 6 trillion yen.
Fontes
- Animehunch — Anime Industry Hits Record 4 Trillion Yen; Overseas Market Accounts For More Than Half The Revenue
- Asia Daily — Japan's Anime Market Hits $28.2 Billion as Studios Face a Smaller Share
Image credit: chart of 2025 anime market revenue, via GEM Standard, published by Animehunch.
Transparency: this article was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence, from cross-checking public posts and internet sources listed above. Consult the original sources to confirm the details.
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