Anime Revenue Hits $28.5 Billion

The Japanese animation industry generated $28.5 billion in total sales during 2025, marking a 15.8 percent increase over the previous year in yen terms. The Association of Japanese Animations announced these figures at its annual session held during the final day of TIFFCOM, the content market associated with the Tokyo International Film Festival. The total revenue encompasses box office earnings, streaming rights, television licenses, merchandise, and related events.

International markets accounted for approximately $16 billion of the total, while the domestic market contributed around $12 billion. This marks a continued trend where overseas sales have exceeded domestic figures, a dynamic that first emerged in 2020. The growth was fueled significantly by the global performance of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle.

The Infinity Castle film earned roughly $800 million worldwide, with a portion of that revenue landing in 2026. In Japan alone, the movie collected about $250 million, or 40 billion yen, securing its position as the highest-grossing Japanese film and anime of all time. Its predecessor in the franchise had also reached the 40 billion yen mark domestically but did not achieve the same level of international financial success.

Kazuko Ishikawa, president of both the Association of Japanese Animations and Nippon Animation, emphasized the need to support the creators behind these productions. She stated that it is vital to build a strong ecosystem for the people involved so they can focus on storytelling. The government has set a target of $130 billion in overseas sales for Japanese content by 2033, with anime expected to contribute 6 trillion yen to that goal under the IP360 strategy.

Studio revenue also rose, increasing by 8.4 percent to reach $3.2 billion. Overseas studios represented a record $880 million of that total. The weak yen affects how these figures appear in dollar terms, reducing the reported dollar value while simultaneously increasing the value of foreign earnings when they are converted back to yen in Japan.

Masahiro Hasegawa, the chief editor of the industry report, pointed to the popularity of anime series on streaming platforms. He noted that several top-rated series on IMDb were anime titles. The Attack on Titan series ranked first, while Death Note placed third, positioned between Rick and Morty and The Simpsons in the voting results.

The 2025 figures follow a year of nearly 15 percent growth that reached a previous record of $25 billion. Since the association began tracking these metrics in 2002, the market size has nearly tripled.