Revenue of the anime industry Japan 2023, by segment

The animation industry in Japan generated a revenue of about 1.72 trillion Japanese yen via overseas sales in 2023. Since the overseas business combines the revenue of various segments, it was the largest category in terms of revenue for the Japanese anime industry. Merchandising, pachinko, and streaming constituted the largest domestic segments.

The anime market

The anime industry is a booming enterprise in Japan. One major contributing factor is the growing demand in other countries, which has led to a strong increase in overseas sales particularly since the mid-2010s. Among the domestic segments, one notable area of growth for the industry is the streaming business, which overtook television broadcasting for the first time in 2020. Due to the competition between major streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, this segment has received a lot of media attention in recent years. Live entertainment, which includes businesses such as live performances, exhibitions, and cafés, also constitutes a segment that enjoys increasing popularity. The segment was particularly adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but managed to recover by 2022. 

Anime production companies

In Japan, animation works are usually produced by so-called production committees, which represent cooperative endeavors between companies that belong to various related industries. The production of content often goes hand in hand with further products, such as merchandise in the form of toys or other character goods. While this cooperation reduces the risk each company has to carry and allows for the utilization of a highly specialized know-how with regard to the various market segments, the actual animation production companies only earn a small proportion of the revenue generated in the anime market.