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Teikoku Databank: Record 39.8% of Anime Studios Were in the Red in 2021
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The financial research firm Teikoku Databank published on Friday a report on the anime industry in 2021. The report noted that 39.8% of the 309 anime production companies surveyed had incurred losses in 2021. The percentage is 0.9% higher than 2020, and is the highest ever in Teikoku Databank's records. The firm cited the drop in the number of TV anime productions, the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortage of human resources, and the delays to many of the productions in 2021 as the reasons for the record high.
Total industry revenue for 2021 amounted to 249.582 billion yen (about US$1.87 billion), 5% lower than 2020. This marks the first time since at least 2000 that the anime industry contracted for two consecutive years (Teikoku Databank also recorded a 1.8% contraction of industry total revenue in 2020).
42.6% of anime companies specializing in subcontract work (such as for in-between animation or backgrounds) also incurred losses. The average revenues for such companies in 2021 amounted to 287 million yen (about US$2.15 million).
The average revenue for an anime company in 2021 was 818 million yen (about US$6.13 million), reduced from 2020, and the second time the amount has decreased from the previous year since 2017. (The first time was in 2020.)
Of 309 anime companies surveyed, 70 made transactions with overseas companies through outsourcing or production contracts in 2021. 33 of those companies had transactions with Chinese companies, 25 companies with American companies, 15 with South Korea, seven with Taiwan, and 19 with other countries.
According to the Association of Japanese Animations, the number of television anime titles dropped for the fourth straight year in 2020, and had dropped by over 80 from its historic peak of 278.
Update: Nikkei reported that the survey is for the fiscal year 2021, but Teikoku Databank clarifies that its survey is for the calendar year 2021 (January to December).
Sources: Teikoku Databank, Nikkei via Yaraon!
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