Anime’s Next Growth Engine: Japan Chases $13B Merchandise Opportunity
Synopsis
As anime becomes a global entertainment powerhouse, Japanese companies are focusing on the fast-growing merchandise market to unlock new revenue streams beyond content and streaming.
Japan is ramping up efforts to increase the size of the Japanese anime merchandise market in an effort to push more Japanese content exports, which was forecasted to reach 2.05 trillion (around USD 13.1 billion) for 2024 by Japan’s government backed trade agency JETRO.
Japanese firms are looking at a new source of revenue in growing demand for their franchises like One Piece and Pokemon that are seeing a rise in their global popularity beyond streaming and movies.
In Australia, the trend also is starting to catch up as there were some licensed anime products on the media in specialty shops, online, and fan conventions and events.
Australian retailers and licensing firms could increase sales of Japanese licensed products overseas, and could particularly do well with licensed product sales like collectibles, toys and games, and clothing.
Merchandise Becomes the Next Revenue Driver
Japan’s government is increasingly considering the Japanese anime merchandise market to be a key focus area within their Intellectual Property Promotion Plan 2025, where their objective is to increase Japanese content export values to USD 130 billion per year by 2033. That includes anime, films, animation, games, TV shows, and licensed character brands.
The value of Japanese content exported internationally continues to rise, reaching 5.8 trillion in 2023, and demand in international markets increased 15% year-over-year in 2023. That rise in international demand is a part of a wider trend in which the international media and entertainment content market increased by 26.1% from 2019 to 2023, per Japan’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters.
Japan’s animation and video game markets make up a significant portion of its creative exports, and the merchandise business is expanding and growing in significance.
Licensing can generate ongoing revenue streams from a wide range of consumers buying merchandise at retail, collaborating with brands in multiple markets, and the rights to intellectual property, rather than ongoing subscriptions like streaming.
Global Market Continues to Expand
The global anime merchandise market is expected to grow steadily, with forecasts for the overall global anime merchandise market to be aboutUSD 23.9 billion by 2033.
Consumer purchases still mostly reflect in the categories of collectibles, figures, apparel, trading cards and premium limited edition products, and they’re predominantly in North America and Asian markets.
However, there have been reports indicating a shortfall in available anime product stock in various overseas markets. Given this increase in global demand for authentic Japanese products, many companies now plan to expand their international licensing programs and authorized retail operations.
FAQs
Q1. Why is Japan focusing on anime merchandise?
Japan sees licensed merchandise as a growing source of export revenue alongside anime, manga, games and streaming.
Q2. How large is the global anime merchandise market?
Industry forecasts estimate the global anime merchandise market could reach about US$23.9 billion by 2033.
Q3. What is Japan's overseas content sales target?
Japan aims to increase annual overseas content sales to ¥20 trillion (about US$130 billion) by 2033.
Q4. Which countries are key markets for Japanese anime merchandise?
The United States remains the largest overseas market, while Australia, Europe and other Asia-Pacific countries continue to see growing demand for licensed anime products.
Source: Bloomberg
Follow Inspirepreneur Magazine for daily global business news.
Pooja Malik is a business journalist with over six years of experience covering startups, entrepreneurship, and emerging trends. She has previously worked with leading media platforms such as YourStory Media and BW BusinessWorld, where she reported on business, policy, and market developments. Currently, she serves as Editor at The Inspirepreneur Magazine, where she writes and edits stories across business, lifestyle, and travel, with a focus on clarity, accuracy, and reader relevance.
