Japan’s anime spending hits a record $28.2 billion in 2025

Global spending on Japanese anime reached a record JPY4.45 trillion ($28.2 billion) in 2025, up 15.8% from 2024, according to the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA). Hasegawa Masahiro, the AJA’s editor-in-chief, presented the preliminary figures Friday at TIFFCOM, the market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival.

The AJA’s growth rate also set a record, narrowly passing the 15.7% recorded in 2024. The association will publish final figures in December in the 2026 edition of its annual “Anime Industry Report.”

Overseas revenue rose 17.2% to JPY2.54 trillion ($16.1 billion), while Japan’s local market grew 14.1% to JPY1.91 trillion ($12.1 billion). The overseas share reached 57.1%, up from 56.5% in 2024, according to the AJA.

The balance differs from the pattern Hasegawa described: a sluggish home market had accompanied rapid overseas growth for years. He said 2025 broke that pattern because both sides grew strongly. The AJA’s revised 2023 figures put 2024 local growth at 4.6%, while overseas growth reached 26% that year.

Overseas revenue first passed local revenue in 2023, and the AJA says the gap has widened every year since. Hasegawa cautioned that 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.

How the AJA measures the market

The AJA measures the market in two ways. Its broad estimate tracks what consumers spend across anime-linked television, film, streaming, merchandise, music and live events. Its narrower measure tracks revenue earned by animation studios themselves.

Under the studio measure, revenue rose 8.4% to a record JPY505.5 billion ($3.2 billion). That pace trailed the AJA’s 9.1% growth in 2024. Overseas business supplied 27.9% of studio revenue, up from 25.5% in 2024.

Studios do not always deal directly with international partners, Hasegawa noted, which helps explain the relatively low overseas share. “The idea of studios holding the rights to their own works and managing them to generate revenue is growing year by year,” Hasegawa said.

Hasegawa pointed to Japanese titles placing high at the box office in various territories and on global streaming charts. He cited a report from the previous week: “Just last week, I saw a report that a Japanese anime was No. 2 globally,” Hasegawa said. He added: “I believe the breakthrough has truly been achieved.”

According to IMDb data cited in the AJA findings, Japanese anime accounted for 100 of the 300 TV series with the most user votes. Nine ranked in the top 20:

• “Attack on Titan” led the ranking with 726,000 votes, ahead of “Rick and Morty.”
• “Death Note” ranked No. 3, and “One Piece” ranked No. 9.
• The other Japanese titles in the top 20 were “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” “Demon Slayer,” “One-Punch Man,” “Naruto Shippuden,” “Jujutsu Kaisen” and “Hunter x Hunter.”

What does this change for anime studios?

For anime studios, the practical change is a shift from overseas viewing toward monetization through rights, merchandise and services. Hasegawa said anime has long driven related content, goods and services at home. Abroad, he said, the format has so far succeeded mainly as something to watch, making merchandise and services the next phase for fans worldwide.

The AJA’s figures feed into a Japanese government target of JPY20 trillion ($126.9 billion) in overseas content sales by 2033, with anime expected to contribute JPY6 trillion ($38.1 billion). Japanese content earned JPY6.1 trillion ($38.7 billion) abroad in 2024, and the AJA attributes roughly one-third of that total to anime.

The AJA survey identifies two studio priorities for growth markets. Its stated priorities are:

• Localization fitted to local language, culture and law.
• Anti-piracy measures to protect works against unauthorized copying.

Hasegawa singled out family anime, which is recognized across generations in Japan, as a category whose broad domestic reach could become overseas merchandise sales. “By taking the structure that has been built up in Japan overseas, I believe we can grow toward the JPY6 trillion target,” Hasegawa said.

Hasegawa’s priorities point to a practical test for the next phase: studios must convert overseas audiences into rights revenue, merchandise and services. Ishikawa Kazuko, who heads both the AJA and Nippon Animation, opened the TIFFCOM session and addressed the conditions behind production.

“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,” Ishikawa said.

The AJA’s December report will settle the final size of the 2025 market. Whether that record becomes durable depends on whether studios can meet the JPY6 trillion anime-export target without eroding the production conditions Ishikawa described.