AJA: Anime Industry Grew by 14.3% to New Record High in 2023
The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) released its Anime Industry Report 2024 findings (for the year 2023) on December 22. The report found that the wider anime industry (including merchandise, music, and other areas) grew by 14.3% in 2023 compared to 2022, for a total market value of 3.3465 trillion yen (about US$21.27 billion). This number is the highest since AJA began recording the industry's total market value in 2002, exceeding the previous record high of 2.9277 trillion yen (about US$18.61 billion by present conversion) in 2022. This is also the highest year-on-year growth since 2002. Both the domestic (Japanese) and foreign anime markets grew this year, but the foreign market overtook the domestic market for the second time since 2002, with 51.5% of the total market. (2020 had the foreign market larger than the domestic market for the first time ever, but 2021 reversed it once more, and it remained that way in 2022.) The foreign market in 2023 amounted to 1.7222 trillion yen (about US$10.94 billion), an 18.02% increase from 2022's 1.4592 trillion yen (about US$9.27 billion by present conversion). Market research firm Parrot Analytics also collaborated with the AJA with a supplemental report, noting that the North American and Asian regions alone contributed 72% of anime's global revenue, amounting to US$14.3 billion. The domestic market in 2023 amounted to 1.6243 trillion yen (about US$10.32 billion), a 10.6% increase from 2022's 1.4685 trillion yen (about US$9.33 billion by present conversion).Parrot Analytics noted that anime generated 6% of global streaming revenue in 2023, with US$2.2 billion (41% of the global anime total revenue from streaming) coming from North America, and US$1.6 billion (29%) coming from Asia.The market value strictly for anime productions amounted to 427.2 billion yen (about US$2.71 billion) in 2023, a 25.4% increase from 2021. (This value differs from the market value of the wider anime industry in the sense that it only counts the market value of actual production, manufacturing, and funding, excluding sales, which the AJA does to reflect that anime production has few vertically integrated companies, and is supported largely by small- to mid-scaled firms.)The first graph below from the AJA shows the overall anime industry market value and trend from 2002 to 2023.The second graph below details the domestic market (solid line) and the overseas market (dotted line).Some domestic market segments also saw growth in 2023, including: streaming's 51.4% growth compared to 2022 at 250.1 billion yen (about US$1.58 billion), merchandise's 4.7% growth to 700.8 billion yen (about US$4.45 billion), live entertainment's 11.2% growth to 108.1 billion yen (about US$687 million), and television revenue's 3.2% growth to 97.3 billion yen (about US$618 million). The music, home video, and film segments shrank in 2023.Parrot Analytics highlighted global merchandise sales for the anime industry, amounting to US$14.3 billion in combined foreign and domestic sales, with Asia accounting for US$5.46 billion of sales, and North America at US$4.97 billion, with both regions combined forming 73% of anime merchandise sales worldwide.Netflix's revenue for its anime catalog amounted to US$2.0739 billion in 2023, with anime specialty streamer Crunchyroll at second place in revenue, with US$1.161 billion in 2023. Behind them are Hulu at US$903.03 million, Amazon Prime Video at US$515.1 million, iQIYI at US$217.7 million, bilibili at US$153.9 million, Tencent Video at US$137.3 million, Disney+ at US$130.9 million, Max at US$74.1 million, and MangoTV at US$72.4 million.In an earlier separate report in September, Parrot Analytics also noted that 6.8% of Netflix's revenue (its "demand share") comes from its anime catalog, despite anime comprising only 3.9% of its entire library (its "supply share"). Meanwhile, 11.8% of Hulu's revenue comes from anime, with anime comprising 9% of its library. Other notable services include Amazon Prime Video with 3.1% demand share and 2.3% supply share, Peacock with 2.3% demand share and 2.7% supply share, and Disney+ with 0.5% demand share and 0.7% supply share.The anime industry had contracted by 3.5% in 2020, with a total market value of 2.4261 trillion yen (about US$21.32 billion by 2021 conversion). The market value strictly for anime productions contracted by 9% to 274.4 billion yen (about US$2.41 billion by 2021 conversion). The industry generated 88.4 billion yen less due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to surveys. The streaming market increased dramatically in 2020 by 35.8% year-on-year, with a total value of 93 billion yen (about US$817 million by 2021 conversion), and was also the only market segment to see growth.Sources: Email correspondence, AJA 2024 anime industry report, NHK, Parrot Analytics (link 2), Tadashi Sudo's X/Twitter account
