Image: Delicious in Dungeon, Tokyo MX
Japanese animation has continued to win over global audiences and set a record in 2023 for the amount of streaming revenue the genre brought in. With Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economics system we can quantify the financial impact of this content. Specifically, we estimate that in 2023 Japanese anime delivered $5.5 billion in revenue for streaming services globally. In many ways the success of anime can be a template for other countries looking to replicate its international export success.
While this dollar value looks big, two points help contextualize it. First, anime still accounts for only a fraction of global streaming revenue - in 2023 this averaged about 6% across the year. Holding this constant, anime will deliver more streaming revenue in years to come as the total size of the global streaming pie grows. But there is additional upside for the genre if it can continue to grow its global fanbase and increase its share of streaming revenue relative to other types of content.
Additionally, other businesses such as gaming, events, and merchandise are important ways that anime generates revenue. This means that the $5.5B in streaming revenue the genre made represents just a fraction of the total revenue it is responsible for.
Looking at the impact of anime to streaming revenue at a regional level we can see how North America, as the most mature streaming market, contributed the most to anime streaming revenue in 2023. The $2.2B in revenue that anime generated in this region comprised 41% of the streaming revenue from this genre globally. There are further opportunities for the genre to expand revenue streams in emerging international markets.
Certain platforms have been better at monetizing this content than others. At the head of the pack is Netflix, where we estimate that anime contributed $2.07B in global revenue in 2023. This makes up 38% of the total anime streaming revenue generated globally last year.
Crunchyroll, as a specialist streaming service, has put all its chips on anime. Because of that the platform’s fortunes are very much tied to global demand for this genre. If the global anime fanbase continues to grow Crunchyroll should be able to ride that wave towards greater financial success. However, if this genre’s growth hits a ceiling the platform may find itself unable to adapt in a way that more generalist platforms can.
Hulu may have been the most successful at turning its anime catalog into cash when we consider that it is not globally available like Netflix and Crunchyroll. Despite only competing in the US market and not specializing in anime like Crunchyroll, Hulu was the third largest source of global streaming revenue for the anime genre and beat out even global platforms like Amazon Prime Video. The platform has invested in anime content that US audiences want as it has built out its “Animayhem” hub which focuses on both anime and adult animated content.
