Japan’s Anime Market Hits Record $28.2 Billion as Home Sales Surge

Worldwide spending on Japanese anime reached a record JPY4.45 trillion ($28.2 billion) in 2025, a 15.8% jump from the previous year. Overseas consumers now account for well over half of that total. The figures show an industry that keeps breaking its own records while it expands in both foreign and home markets.

Hasegawa Masahiro, editor-in-chief of the Association of Japanese Animations’ annual “Anime Industry Report,” presented the preliminary numbers on Friday at TIFFCOM, the market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival. The final numbers will appear in the 2026 edition of the report, which the association will publish in December.

A Record Pace of Growth

The rate of growth set a record too, edging past the 15.7% the industry posted in 2024. Overseas revenue climbed 17.2% to JPY2.54 trillion ($16.1 billion). The local market grew 14.1% to JPY1.91 trillion ($12.1 billion).

As a result, the overseas share of the total rose to 57.1% from 56.5% a year earlier. Overseas revenue first overtook local revenue in 2023, and the gap has widened every year since.

The 2025 numbers also show a shift in where the momentum came from. In 2024, local growth reached only 4.6%, based on revised figures for 2023, while overseas growth hit 26%. In 2025, overseas growth slowed, but the home market accelerated sharply, and much of the gain came from Japan itself.

Home and Abroad Grow Together

For years, a sluggish home market sat alongside rapid growth abroad. Hasegawa said 2025 broke that pattern, because both sides grew strongly at the same time. That dual growth marks a notable change for an industry that had leaned heavily on foreign audiences to drive its expansion.

Hasegawa also urged caution when readers compare the two markets. He said exchange rates and global conditions affect the comparison. He added that the overseas total reflects a range of market factors, not only how well individual titles travel.

Two Ways to Measure an Industry

The association measures the business in two different ways. The broad figure estimates what consumers spend on everything connected to anime, from TV, film and streaming to merchandise, music and live events. A narrower measure tracks the revenue that animation studios themselves earn.

That studio figure rose 8.4% to a record JPY505.5 billion ($3.2 billion). The pace trailed the 9.1% growth of 2024, but the total still set a new high. Consumer spending therefore grew far faster than the studios’ own take, which shows how much of the money flows through channels beyond the studios.

Overseas business made up 27.9% of studio revenue, up from 25.5% in 2024. Studios do not always deal directly with international partners, Hasegawa noted, which keeps that share relatively low. Even so, the trend points upward.

Studios Take Control of Their Rights

Hasegawa sees a structural change behind the studio numbers. He said more studios now hold the rights to their own works and manage them to generate 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.

That shift matters because the rights to a title determine who profits when it succeeds around the world. A studio that controls its own properties can capture more of the value those works create. The rising overseas share of studio revenue fits that pattern.

The Global Breakthrough

Hasegawa pointed to Japanese titles that place high at the box office in various territories and on global streaming charts. He argued that the evidence of international success has become hard to dismiss.

“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.”

Audience data on IMDb backs up his view. Japanese anime make up 100 of the 300 TV series with the most user votes on the platform, including nine of the top 20. Those numbers show that anime now commands attention well beyond its traditional fan base.

What the Record Means

The 2025 report delivers a clear message: anime has become a global commercial force with strength at home as well. Total spending of $28.2 billion covers a wide range of products and services, and each segment feeds the others. Streaming, merchandise, music and live events all contribute to the broad measure the association tracks.

The preliminary figures are not final, and the association will refine them before it publishes the full report in December. For now, the early data suggest that the industry has moved past its long-running split between a weak domestic market and a booming foreign one. With both sides now growing at double-digit rates, 2025 stands as the strongest year on record for Japanese anime.