Ampere’s biannual consumer survey of 30 global markets shows that in the last four years, European markets have seen the largest growth in those enjoying Anime content. Of the top 10 markets with the largest growth in those interested in watching Anime titles, seven were from Europe: Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK. Across these markets, the share of viewers in Q1 2024 who enjoy watching Anime now ranges between 22% and 36%, up between 3% and 9% from Q1 2020. The trend is notably higher among younger cohorts, with nearly half of 18-24-year-olds in Finland, Italy, and France now saying they enjoy Anime. And within that, a substantial core of young Anime fans is emerging in Europe: 11% of 18-24-year-olds in Germany, for example, now describe Anime as their favourite genre. 

The primary providers of Anime content across these seven markets are global giants Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, plus dedicated Anime platform Crunchyroll (as well as Funimation which was merged into Crunchyroll in April 2024), with local streaming platforms typically lacking Anime titles. Largely thanks to the global players ramping up their Anime catalogues, the seven markets had access to 2,755 Anime titles in total across all SVoD services as of 2023, a 42% increase from 1,945 titles in 2019.

However, there is room for further growth in the supply of Anime content, compared to APAC where, outside of Japan, more than 4,000 titles were available as of January 2024. In particular, European markets lack a supply of new Anime (titles released in the last three years): Each of the seven markets carries only around 300 to 500 new titles against the 1,100 available in Taiwan, for example. Indeed, Taiwanese local platforms such as Hami Video and FriDay are the largest Anime carriers outside of Japan, along with South Korean platforms and the global streamers mentioned above.

Given this, European local and regional services should leverage the growing appetite for Anime in Europe, and the large number of Anime titles not yet available in the region, to gain a competitive edge. They should focus their acquisition on three types of Anime: long-running classic Anime titles, which are among the most popular Anime titles globally and have a large backstock of franchises; new titles which European markets lack; and Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Action & Adventure titles which are the most popular Anime genres in Japan and globally.

Further analysis of the rising popularity of Anime in Europe can be found here, while clients can read the full report here.