Anime Takes Over Netflix: Interest in Japanese Animation Grows Nine Times Faster Than Overall Service Metrics

In the first half of 2026, subscribers to the service spent over 4 billion hours watching anime.

According to The Anime Economy report released by Media Partners Asia, the popularity of anime on Netflix is growing significantly faster than the platform's overall metrics. In the first half of 2026, users watched 4.64 billion hours of Japanese animation, a 39% increase from 3.33 billion hours in the same period of 2023.

During the same period, the total number of hours of content viewed on Netflix increased by only 4.5%. Thus, the anime audience grew almost nine times faster than the platform as a whole, and the share of Japanese animation in total viewing time rose from 3.6% to 4.75%.

Netflix holds particularly strong positions in Asia. In eight key markets in the region, half of all anime content available on streaming services is in the service's catalog. In Japan, the market is effectively split between Netflix and Prime Video, with each service accounting for over 40%.

Media Partners Asia expects further growth in the industry. The company forecasts that global investment in anime production will increase by an average of 10% annually until 2030, with North America and Asian countries outside Japan being the main sources of growth.