Sales activity for French animation dropped by 5.3% to US$61.7 million in 2022, according to a new report from Unifrance, which chalks the decrease up to fewer global rights deals being signed in the international marketplace as more buyers are demanding exclusivity. 

The television and film industry org released its latest French TV Export report yesterday, and it shows that total sales of domestically produced animation have dropped for the second year in a row. From 2016 to 2020, they hit a peak level of around US$79 million a year on average. But that heyday ended in 2021, when animated sales dropped to US$65 million from US$80 million in 2020.  

France’s animation industry is now in a “low export cycle,” according to the report, with international sales declining by 35% in 2022 to US$14.8 million compared to the previous year. 

Animation sales in France in Euro millions. Graph by CNC-Unifrance.

There was also a sharp decrease in pre-financing for French television content in general. Across all genres, this figure was down year over year by 44% to US$112 million in 2022. 

Interestingly, animation is France’s second best-selling genre after fiction. In fact, some of its most exported series in 2022 were preschool and kids shows such as Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (Zag) and Edmond & Lucy (MIAM! Animation). And public broadcasters remain interested in educational and family-friendly shows, Unifrance says.  

Western Europe is the biggest buyer of France’s animation output at 26.9%, followed closely by North America (24.8%) and then APAC (15.1%).

Photo courtesy of Anthony Delanoix via Unsplash.