Manga Sales Grow for Seventh Consecutive Year in Japan

Estimated total sales of print and electronic manga books and magazines in Japan rose by 1.5% in 2024 to a record high of ¥704.3 billion, according to the All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association and the Research Institute for Publications. The overall share of comics sales within the broader publishing market increased by 1.3 percentage points to 44.8%.

In 2020, annual sales of manga exceeded ¥600 billion for the first time, driven by increased demand as people spent more time at home during the pandemic. Just four years later, sales have broken through the ¥700 billion barrier in the seventh consecutive year of growth.

Sales of e-comics read on smartphones and other mobile devices rose 6.0% to ¥512.2 billion, while print-based manga books in the tankōbon digest format fell by 8.6% to ¥147.2 billion and manga magazines dropped 9.7% to ¥44.9 billion.

Print sales saw big rises in 2020 and 2021, but started to decrease in 2022, falling below pre-pandemic levels in 2023 and 2024. By contrast, e-comics sales have nearly doubled what they were in 2019.

The Research Institute for Publications identified the success of focusing on advertising as a factor in improved e-comic performance, with manga with anime or other adaptations, works with exclusive early distribution, and store originals driving sales. It also noted the ongoing shift among readers from print to e-comics.

The chart below shows the circulation for major weekly shōnen manga magazines aimed primarily at boys. The number of copies printed for Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday have decreased by more than half over the past six years.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)