Digital Manga Volume Sales Overtake Print Manga Volume Sales in Japan for 1st Time

Reports by both The Huffington Post on Monday and the NHK World on Tuesday noted that annual sales of digital manga volume sales overtook sales of physical manga volumes for the first time in 2017.

The reports, citing the Research Institute for Publications, noted that total sales of physical compiled manga book volumes were 166.6 billion yen (about US$1.56 billion) — down 14.4% compared to the previous year.

The report noted that illegal uploads of manga on the Internet have had a negative effect on the industry.