Japan's Ghibli theme park prepares for visitors. Natsuko Fukue, Agence France-Presse

TOKYO — Sales in Japan's animation production industry soared 22.9 percent to a record 339 billion yen ($2.4 billion) in 2023 and are expected to remain near that level this year, a recent survey by a credit research firm showed.

The combined revenue at 317 animation companies producing content for television, film and streaming platforms surpassed the previous record of 287.3 billion yen in 2019, driven by hit films such as Makoto Shinkai's "Suzume" and a pickup in demand for streaming services, according to Teikoku Databank.

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Box office sales for Suzume, released in November 2022, exceeded 14 billion yen in Japan alone. Among other popular films, Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" topped the U.S. box office in December 2023 in the first weekend after its release.

The Apothecary Diaries TV anime, which is also available on streaming platforms, was also among smash-hit series in a shift in customer behavior from traditional television viewing to subscription-based streaming services.

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Japan's anime boom is expected to continue into 2024, with industry-wide sales estimated at around 340 billion yen, Teikoku Databank said.

Despite the growing anime market, "polarization (between successful and struggling) anime studios is advancing," the research firm said.

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In 2023, the average revenue per production company stood at a record 1.12 billion yen, led by growth in first-tier animation studios, Teikoku Databank said.

But 43.1 percent of subcontracting studios reported losses, the second highest after 43.8 percent of those subcontractors were unprofitable in 2020 due to pandemic-related production halts.