Anime refers to hand-drawn and computer animation originating from Japan. It is characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters, and fantastical themes. Anime has become immensely popular worldwide, with viewership reaching beyond the borders of Japan.
Anime, or Japanese animation, has become increasingly popular around the world in recent decades. As the audience for anime grows, there is great interest in analyzing trends and patterns in the production and consumption of these animated works. Anime statistics can provide useful insights into the scope, evolution, and impact of this art form and industry.
According to a survey conducted in Japan in September 2023, 81.5 % of respondents had watched television anime. Furthermore, this survey indicated that story and characters were the main factors determining whether people continued watching or dropped an anime series.
Editors Choice
- Crunchyroll reached 120 million registered users in 2021.
- An average anime episode costs between $100,000 and $200,000.
- More than 50% of Netflix users watched anime in 2021.
- The global anime market will reach $ 68.28 billion by 2032.
- The Pokémon franchise made approximately $110 billion.
- Close to 18% of Americans watch anime.
- Naruto has about 1.97 million monthly searches in the US alone.
- Only 6% of Gen Z aren’t familiar with the genre.
- Dragon Ball Super film netted $10.7 million on its opening day in the US.
- Nearly 90% of Netflix users in Japan consumed anime content during the same period.
Anime Statistics
- In 2023, the global anime market was valued at $26.57 billion.
- Given the growing appetite for anime content, industry estimates predict its market will expand significantly and reach an estimated value of $68.28 billion by 2032 – representing an anticipated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5%.
- 2020 marked a historic breakthrough: international sales of anime overtook those in Japan for the first time ever.
- According to AJA (Association of Japanese Animations), the value of the overseas anime market exceeded that of Japan by far in 2020. They reported an online distribution market totaling 2.4261 trillion yen (approximately $21.32 billion). Roughly 51% of this amount originated in North American and Chinese markets alone.
- Pokemon has long been recognized as the highest-grossing anime franchise, earning nearly $110 billion since it first premiered. Anpanman earned $44.9 billion during that same timeframe.
- Following anime’s explosion of popularity during the 90s, production duration reached its highest peak of 136,407 minutes in 2006. Following streaming services and increased international demand for content production led to 130,347 minutes being produced in 2018 alone, yet these numbers fell precipitously after COVID-19 struck and eventually settled at only 106,966 production minutes produced in 2019.
- Teikoku Databank reports that approximately 39.8% of 309 participating production companies experienced losses in 2021 – an increase of 0.9% over 2018.
- Haruichi Furudate created Haikyuu!! to popularize volleyball resulting in its remarkable surge of interest worldwide.
- Akira (1988 anime film), introduced 50 new colors into animation filmmaking for a truly groundbreaking experience.
- Japan’s animation industry generated 1.31 trillion Japanese yen in foreign sales and 663 billion domestic sales in 2021, contributing significantly to its economy through tourism and merchandise sales related to anime-inspired merchandise. This rapidly growing sector had an exceptional year resulting in strong economic performance throughout Japan’s animation sector and economy overall.
- Sony’s $ 1.175 billion purchase of Crunchyroll resulted in an unprecedented spike in paying subscribers and registered users worldwide, reflecting an ever-increasing global interest in Anime content. Within one week alone 5m subscribers paid and 20 million registered users signed up – providing ample proof that this demand continues to surge globally.
- In 2020, an international online anime distributor overtook Japan in market value terms with approximately $561 Million in sales revenue.
- Production time increased 12.9% between 2018 and 2020.
Demographics Statistics
- Global anime viewership: 36% of viewers worldwide enjoyed watching anime in 2021.
- Anime viewership in Japan: 75.87% of the Japanese population watches anime.
- Anime viewership in the United States: 71.86% of the US population watches anime.
- Gender distribution of anime fans: 59% of anime fans are male and 41% are female.
- Age distribution of anime fans: 63% of anime fans are under the age of 35.
- Education level of anime fans: 72% of anime fans have at least a bachelor’s degree.
- Income level of anime fans: 65% of anime fans have a household income of over $50,000.
- Occupation of anime fans: 32% of anime fans work in the technology industry and 25% work in the creative industry.
- Interests of anime fans: Anime fans are also interested in video games, manga, and Japanese culture.
- Spender habits of anime fans: Anime fans spend an average of $100 per month on anime-related merchandise.
General Anime Statistics
- Crunchyroll made history this year by welcoming 120 Million users.
- In 2021, the platform reached five million subscribers.
- Crunchyroll boasts an incredible social media audience of more than 60 million.
- Dragon Ball Super is widely considered one of the top anime series available and typically costs approximately $150k-160k per episode to produce.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood currently enjoys an exceptional rating on MyAnimeList with 9.13 points out of 10, giving it top honors among anime series.
- Akira, one of the critically-acclaimed anime films, contains over 2,212 individual shots and 160,000 individual frames; three to four times more than is normally found.
- Akira utilizes 327 colors in her film, including 50 specifically created for it.
- Naruto anime-related searches dominate in 93 countries globally – the U.S. included. Naruto accounts for 16.2% of searches performed online.
- Pokemon and Demon Slayer rank second and third globally as the two most-sought anime series with 8.8% and 7.8% of global searches respectively.
- 2021 saw domestic anime industry sales revenue surpass 1.43 trillion Japanese yen; when combined with other sources this total reached an all-time high of around 2.74 trillion yen – setting yet another all-time record!
- Sazae-san has been airing daily since 1969 and holds the longest-running anime title worldwide with nearly 4,000 episodes to its credit – drawing international notice for its record longevity! While initially intended as children’s fare, its massive longevity has garnered worldwide praise.
- Sally the Witch first premiered from 1966 to 1968 and laid the groundwork for the magical girl anime genre – even predating the global hit Sailor Moon by over 25 years!
Anime Popularity Statistics
- From 2020-2022, global anime demand increased 118%.
- Anime’s share of total genre demand increased from 4.2% in January 2020 to 7.1% by 2022.
- Deal-making activity within the anime industry continued, highlighted by Sony’s acquisition of Crunchyroll for $1.2 billion.
- In 2021, over half of global Netflix subscribers engaged with anime content.
- Nearly 90% of Netflix subscribers in Japan consumed anime content within this same time period.
- Gen Zers are only slightly unfamiliar with anime compared to 27% of the general population, yet still account for 6%.
- Spirited Away was the inaugural anime to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Film back in 2003.
- Attack on Titan was inspired by drunk humans.
- Bleach was created by Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball.
Top Anime list
One Piece Statistics
- First episode aired: October 20, 1999
- Number of episodes: Over 1,000 as of October 2022 (currently still ongoing)
- Longest running anime series of all time
- Produced by Toei Animation and licensed by Funimation in North America
- Based on the manga series by Eiichiro Oda which began in 1997
- Most episodes directed by Kōnosuke Uda (over 900 episodes)
- Voice cast includes Mayumi Tanaka as Monkey D. Luffy, Kazuya Nakai as Roronoa Zoro, Akemi Okamura as Nami
- Estimated production cost is ¥30 million per episode
- As of 2018, over 900 episodes had been broadcast
- One Piece has earned $6 billion in merchandise sales as of 2017
- Ranked #6 in highest-grossing media franchises behind Pokémon, Hello Kitty, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Anpanman
- As of 2022, the anime has covered through volume 97 of the manga
Naruto Statistics
- The first episode aired in Japan: on October 3, 2002
- Total number of episodes: 720 (220 episodes in Naruto, 500 episodes in Naruto: Shippuden)
- Based on the manga series by Masashi Kishimoto, which began in 1999
- Produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex
- The main cast includes Junko Takeuchi as Naruto Uzumaki, Chie Nakamura as Sakura Haruno, Noriaki Sugiyama as Sasuke Uchiha
- Naruto was the #3 anime on TV Tokyo for 2002
- Average Naruto: Shippuden viewership was 2.2 million during its run
- Highest rated Naruto: Shippuden episode had 6.3 million viewers
- As of 2021, the Naruto anime franchise had earned an estimated $5 billion in total franchise revenue
- Ranks #7 on the list of highest-grossing media franchises
- Original Naruto anime won the Animation Kobe Award for Best TV Animation in 2005
Dragon ball statistics
- Original Dragon Ball anime aired from 1986-1989 with 153 episodes
- Produced by Toei Animation and licensed by Funimation in North America
- Based on the manga by Akira Toriyama which began in 1984
- Dragon Ball Z aired from 1989-1996 with 291 episodes
- Dragon Ball GT aired from 1996-1997 with 64 episodes
- Dragon Ball Super aired from 2015-2018 with 131 episodes
- Longest running anime in the Dragon Ball franchise is Dragon Ball Z
- The main cast includes Masako Nozawa as Goku, Toshio Furukawa as Piccolo, Mayumi Tanaka as Krillin
- Dragon Ball Z was #1 in anime TV ratings while airing in Japan
- Highest rated Dragon Ball Z episode had a 20.8% viewership rating in Japan
- Dragon Ball manga has sold over 260 million copies worldwide as of 2021
- Dragon Ball anime has earned an estimated total franchise revenue of over $24 billion
- One of the most influential and popular anime/manga series worldwide
Ongoing Popular Anime
Jujutsu Kaisen
- Based on the manga series by Gege Akutami which began in 2018
- The Jujutsu Kaisen franchise earned approximately 133 million USD in revenue
- Anime TV series produced by MAPPA began airing in 2020
- Currently has 24 episodes over 1 season and 2 seasons in ongoing
- The main cast includes Junya Enoki as Yuuji Itadori, Yūichi Nakamura as Satoru Gojō, Asami Seto as Nobara Kugisaki
- Ranked 3rd for top-selling manga in 2021 with over 55 million copies sold
- Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie released in 2021 earned over $150 million worldwide
- Jujutsu Kaisen TV anime won the Anime of the Year award at Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2021
- The average viewership of the Jujutsu Kaisen premiere on Tokyo MX was over 1.2 million
- The highest viewership was over 1.8 million for the last episode of the first season
- Jujutsu Kaisen was one of the top 5 most popular anime worldwide on social media in 2021
- Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the most-watched anime series on Netflix in several countries.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
- Based on the manga series by Koyoharu Gotouge which began in 2016
- Anime TV series produced by ufotable aired from 2019-2020
- 26 episodes total over 1 season covering up to manga volume 13
- The main cast includes Natsuki Hanae as Tanjiro Kamado, Akari Kitō as Nezuko Kamado
- Demon Slayer manga has over 150 million copies in circulation as of 2021
- Demon Slayer movie Mugen Train (2020) grossed over $500 million worldwide
- Became highest grossing film of all time in Japan at $375 million
- Demon Slayer anime won Anime of the Year at 2020 Newtype Anime Awards
- Average viewership was over 1 million for the anime series
- The finale episode had the highest viewership of over 3.5 million in Japan
- First anime series to top annual manga sales rankings in Oricon history
- Licensed merchandise has generated over $288 million in sales
Black Clover
- Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King movie set for 2023
- Based on the manga series by Yūki Tabata which began in 2015
- Anime TV series produced by Pierrot aired from 2017-2021
- 170 episodes total over 4 seasons
- The main cast includes Gakuto Kajiwara as Asta, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Yuno, Kana Yūki as Noelle
- As of 2021, Black Clover manga had over 18 million copies in circulation
- Average weekly viewership was around 1.2-1.5 million per episode in Japan
- The most watched episode had 2.8 million viewers for ep. 158 in Japan
- Streaming on Funimation, Crunchyroll, Hulu
FAQ
1. What is the most popular anime genre globally?
A. Action is currently the most popular anime genre worldwide, making up over 25% of titles. However, other major genres like drama, comedy, and fantasy all have strong viewer bases.
2. How many anime conventions occur annually?
A. There are over 100 major anime conventions held globally each year. The largest events, like the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, can draw crowds exceeding 100,000 attendees.
3. Which country outside Japan watches the most anime?
A. The United States has the highest viewership for anime outside of Japan. An estimated 25% of Americans have watched anime, with the viewer base still expanding rapidly.
4. How much does the average anime worker get paid?
A. The average salary for an animator at a Japanese anime studio is around $30,000 per year. Top animators and directors can earn over $100,000. The pay is lower than in other entertainment fields.
5. How long does it take to produce one episode of anime?
A. It typically takes around 3-4 months to fully complete one 24-minute episode of anime, from storyboarding to finished animation. High-quality productions can take 6 months or more per episode.
6. What percentage of anime is adapted from manga comics?
A. Approximately 60% of all anime series are adapted directly from popular Japanese manga comics. These adaptations help boost visibility and viewership for new anime releases.
ABOUT AUTHOR
Kundan Goyal possesses a wealth of experience in Digital Marketing, offering valuable insights to businesses of all sizes. He actively contributes to industry-specific PR, news outlets, and forums, shaping discussions and driving forward-thinking strategies. Outside of work, HE enjoys carrom and has a deep passion for news editing and research. His strength lies in helping companies make informed, strategic decisions and predicting future trends. With his dedication and innovative approach, he is a versatile professional who brings a unique blend of skills and expertise to the ever-evolving digital landscape, enabling businesses to thrive in this dynamic environment.
