Japan anime market data: AJA's 2024 figures, explained
AJA's 2025 report gives the most authoritative snapshot of Japanese anime's domestic and overseas scale. The headline number is the broad market, not studio revenue.
Published: 2026-08-19. Updated: 2026-08-19.
Short answer: The Association of Japanese Animations puts Japan's broad anime market at ¥3.8407 trillion in 2024, up 14.8% year over year. Overseas revenue reached ¥2.1702 trillion while domestic revenue was ¥1.6705 trillion, meaning overseas exceeded domestic for the fifth consecutive year. A narrower measure, the production-company market, was ¥466.2 billion. The two figures measure different things and should not be conflated.
How big is the anime market in Japan?
The Association of Japanese Animations estimates that the broad anime market reached ¥3.8407 trillion in 2024. That figure measures estimated end-user spending across television, film, home video, streaming, merchandise, music, live entertainment, amusement machines, and international business.
The same report gives a narrower production-company market of ¥466.2 billion for 2024. That figure estimates revenue received by commercial anime production companies, a small subset of the broader economy that surrounds anime.
AJA Anime Industry Report 2025 preliminary figures for 2024. B means billions of yen.| Measure | 2024 value | Year over year | What it counts |
|---|
| Broad anime market | ¥3,840.7B | +14.8% | End-user spending and overseas activity |
| Overseas market | ¥2,170.2B | +26.0% | International anime-related business |
| Domestic market | ¥1,670.5B | +2.8% | Japan-based end-user market |
| Production-company market | ¥466.2B | +9.1% | Revenue of commercial anime production companies |
Two markets, one headline: The ¥3.84 trillion number is a broad market estimate. It is not the amount anime studios earned. The narrower production-company market was about one-eighth of that size.
Overseas demand now drives most of the growth
International business reached ¥2.1702 trillion in 2024, an increase of 26.0% from the previous year. The domestic market reached ¥1.6705 trillion, up 2.8%. Overseas first surpassed domestic in 2020 and the gap has widened since.
The 2024 overseas figure was about ¥499.7 billion larger than the domestic figure. That growth is linked to global streaming and broader international exploitation of anime rights, even though the report does not assign a specific share to each platform.
Where does the domestic market come from?
Within Japan, the broad market is split across several categories. Merchandise remained the largest measured domestic category at ¥748.8 billion in 2024, up 6.8%. Internet distribution reached ¥265.5 billion, overtaking television, film, and home video combined.
Television generated ¥98.2 billion, film generated ¥69.0 billion, and live entertainment reached ¥122.5 billion. The growth rates vary sharply by category, so the headline market size can hide uneven performance.
Selected domestic categories from AJA's 2024 broad-market breakdown.| Domestic category | 2024 value | Year over year |
|---|
| Merchandising | ¥748.8B | +6.8% |
| Internet distribution | ¥265.5B | +6.2% |
| Live entertainment | ¥122.5B | +13.3% |
| Television | ¥98.2B | +0.9% |
| Film | ¥69.0B | +1.3% |
What the official data does not show
AJA does not publish country-by-country revenue splits for overseas business. The ¥2.1702 trillion overseas total is an aggregate of international streaming, licensing, merchandise, and other anime-related activity, not a per-territory report.
The report also does not break out which titles, studios, or platforms generated specific amounts. Analysts must combine AJA's totals with company filings, streaming milestones, and box-office data to estimate individual contributions.
How to use Japan anime market data responsibly
The safest use of AJA's numbers is as a directional measure of the industry's scale and growth. The broad market is useful for understanding total spending around anime; the production-company market is more useful for understanding how much animation studios actually received.
Commercial market-research forecasts for the global anime market vary widely because they use different scopes, geographies, and methodologies. AJA's yen figures are the official Japanese industry benchmark and should be cited separately from third-party forecasts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the latest official anime market size for Japan?
The Association of Japanese Animations estimates the broad anime market at ¥3.8407 trillion for 2024, up 14.8% year over year.
Is overseas anime revenue larger than domestic revenue in Japan?
Yes. In 2024, overseas revenue was ¥2.1702 trillion and domestic revenue was ¥1.6705 trillion. Overseas has exceeded domestic since 2020.
Did Japanese anime studios earn ¥3.84 trillion?
No. The ¥3.84 trillion figure is a broad market estimate. AJA's separate production-company market estimate was ¥466.2 billion for 2024.
Does AJA report anime revenue by country?
No. AJA publishes aggregate overseas revenue, not country-by-country splits. Public country-level anime revenue data is generally not available from official Japanese sources.
Sources and methodology
- 「アニメ産業レポート2025」刊行のお知らせ・2024年のアニメ産業市場規模 速報値 発表, Association of Japanese Animations. Official Japanese announcement of 2024 broad market at ¥3.8407 trillion, domestic ¥1.6705 trillion, overseas ¥2.1702 trillion, and production-company market ¥466.2 billion.
- Anime Industry Report 2025 English summary, Association of Japanese Animations. English summary PDF with broad-market category breakdowns and methodology, released March 2026.
- Anime Industry Data, Association of Japanese Animations. Official archive and index for AJA's annual industry reports.