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Anime Industry Rose 15% in 2019 to 2.51 Trillion Yen
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) released its preliminary Anime Industry Report 2020 findings on Friday, and plans to release its full findings in a report on November 30. The preliminary report found that the anime industry rose 15.1% to 2.5112 trillion yen (about US$24.18 billion) in 2019. The market was at 1.2661 trillion yen in 2009, so the 2019 numbers represent almost a doubling of the industry in the last decade.
The authors of the report stated they worried that the anime industry would shrink in 2019, due to the declining birthrate in Japan, the shrinking of the domestic market, and China's tightening of regulations starting in April 2019. However, the anime film market rose 62.4% from the year before to 69.2 billion yen (about US$666.2 million). Additionally, internet distribution rose 15.1% to 68.5 billion yen (about US$659.5 million), and live entertainment rose 9.0% to 84.4 billion yen (about US$812.5 million).
By segment, the overseas market made up the largest share with 1.2009 trillion yen (about US$11.56 billion), up 19.0% from 2018, and a record high. The commodities market made up the next largest share with 581.3 billion yen (about US$5.596 billion), up 16.2% from 2018. The arcade and amusement center business made up the third-largest share with 319.9 billion yen (about US$3.08 billion), up 12.8% from 2018. The authors of the report gave credit to the anime adaptations for the Rilakkuma and Sumikko Gurashi franchises for some of the boost in the commodities market, and gave credit to increasing collaborations between anime franchises and pachinko and slot machines for the rise in the arcade and amusement center business.
Anime market segments that decreased in 2019 include TV, home video, and music, continuing a trend from previous years. The television segment decreased by 15.2% and the home video market decreased by 4.1%.
The authors of the report stated that due to the ongoing new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic likely causing a large decrease in numbers for the report on 2020, it will take until they can release 2021 numbers to fully understand the impact of the 2019 numbers on the overall market.
The AJA has been publishing annual reports since 2009, when the anime industry was in decline. The AJA also publishes the reports in English a few months after the Japanese report.
Source: Press release
