Spending on Japanese anime worldwide reached a record JPY4.45 trillion ($28.2 billion) in 2025. That is up 15.8% on the previous year, and overseas consumers now account for well over half of the total. Hasegawa Masahiro, editor-in-chief of the Association of Japanese Animations’ (AJA) annual “Anime Industry Report,” presented the preliminary figures Friday at TIFFCOM, the market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The final numbers will appear in the 2026 edition of the report when it is published in December. The rate of growth was also a record, edging past the 15.7% posted in 2024. Overseas revenue climbed 17.2% to JPY2.54 trillion ($16.1 billion), while the local market grew 14.1% to JPY1.91 trillion ($12.1 billion).
The overseas share of the total rose to 57.1% from 56.5% a year earlier. Much of the gain came from home. Local growth was 4.6% in 2024, based on revised figures for 2023, while overseas growth slowed from the 26% recorded that year.
For years, a sluggish home market sat alongside rapid growth abroad. Hasegawa said 2025 broke that pattern, with both sides growing strongly. Overseas revenue first overtook local revenue in 2023, and the gap has widened every year since.
He cautioned that exchange rates and global conditions affect the comparison. He added that the overseas total reflects a range of market factors, not only how well individual titles travel. The AJA measures the business two ways.
The broad figure estimates what consumers spend on everything connected to anime, from TV, film and streaming to merchandise, music and live events. A narrower measure tracks revenue earned by animation studios themselves. That studio figure rose 8.4% to a record JPY505.5 billion ($3.2 billion), a slightly slower pace than the 9.1% growth of 2024.
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