Japan’s anime market hits record high of $36 billion in 2025 - The Straits Times

The film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025) was among the works that contributed to the industry’s growth in 2025.

TOKYO – Japan’s anime market reached 4.45 trillion yen (S$36 billion) in 2025, topping 4 trillion yen for the first time on strong overseas sales, the Association of Japanese Animations said on Oct 30.

The market more than doubled from 1.8 trillion yen in 2015, with overseas sales reaching 2.54 trillion yen, according to preliminary data from the association.

Overseas sales of Japanese animation surpassed domestic sales for the first time in 2020.

The growth appears to have been driven by the rapid expansion of streaming services such as Netflix, which have made Japanese animation more accessible to audiences at home and abroad amid a post-pandemic boom.

The film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025), adapted from popular manga series Demon Slayer (2016 to 2020), was among the works that contributed to the industry’s growth in 2025.

“The market and the potential of Japanese animation are expanding further, as it has become more familiar around the world,” said Kazuko Ishikawa, the association’s president, at an event in Tokyo.

The Japanese government aims to boost overseas sales of content such as games, anime and manga to 20 trillion yen by 2033, up from around 5.8 trillion yen in 2023, when they were second only to car industry sales. KYODO NEWS