French Animation Exports Slide: Established IPs Hold But New Properties Struggle As North America Hits 16-Year Low

French animation exports fell again in 2024, continuing a downward trend despite the country’s audiovisual exports once again clearing the €200 million ($224M) mark in 2024, reaching €209.6 million ($234M). This was only the fourth time in three decades that sales had crossed that threshold, so the downward momentum for animation is all the more alarming.

Unveiled each year by the CNC and Unifrance at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, this year’s Audiovisual Exports report showed that animation sales dropped nearly 10% to €46.1 million ($51M). That’s a steep contrast to fiction and documentaries, which held steady or grew. While animation still accounts for more than a fifth of total program sales, the decline underscores the difficulties facing new projects in a crowded global market that has seen streamers cut back on commissions and acquisitions of unproven IP.

Long-running international staples continue to carry much of the weight. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, Grizzy and the Lemmings, and Molang all did business abroad, but fresh titles struggled to find audiences. Nowhere was that more evident than in North America, where sales collapsed by 37% to just €2.7 million ($3M), the weakest result since 2008. The U.S., once a prime buyer, has slipped to sixth place overall, trailing behind Belgium, Germany, and Italy.

There is, however, reason for optimism on the financing side of the industry. Animation pre-sales more than doubled in 2024, up 104% year-on-year, suggesting broadcasters and platforms are excited about upcoming French titles even if existing catalogues aren’t attracting international attention. That rise helped drive total animation export value higher when factoring in co-productions, which remain as crucial a channel as ever for French studios to launch animated projects.

For French animation producers, this year’s report was a good-news-bad-news situation. Established brands continue to perform, and the pre-sales surge signals long-term potential. But the dip in direct sales, particularly in the key market of North America, underlines the challenges faced when bringing new properties into an increasingly competitive global market.