Platform Growth Key... Sales Up 36.8% Year-on-Year
Average Annual Income of Artists 98.4 Million KRW for Year-Round Serialization
'Direction for Development of Comics and Webtoon Industry' to Be Announced This Month
The webtoon industry revenue in 2022 was confirmed to be the largest ever. According to the results of the '2023 Webtoon Survey (Businesses & Artists)' announced on the 18th by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, it amounted to 1.829 trillion KRW. This is a 16.8% (263 billion KRW) increase from the previous year (1.566 trillion KRW). The industry has maintained steady growth over the five years since the survey began in 2018.
The main driving force is undoubtedly the growth of platforms. Revenue reached 1.1277 trillion KRW, a 36.8% increase from the previous year (824.1 billion KRW). Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoon In-chon stated, "As global interest has been confirmed, we will nurture K-content as the next-generation national strategic industry following K-pop and games." He added, "Based on the survey results, we will discover necessary projects and improve systems to support leading the global comics and webtoon industry."
The most notable findings are the support needs requested by platforms and production companies. The highest demands were for interpretation and translation support (53.9%), building networks with overseas buyers and distributors (46.7%), overseas market research and provision of market information (41.8%), and training and support for overseas marketing professionals (38.2%).
The average annual income of webtoon artists was approximately 98.4 million KRW for those who serialized throughout the year, and 64.76 million KRW for those with serialization experience within the year. These figures represent decreases of 20.3 million KRW and 20.97 million KRW respectively compared to the previous year. The Ministry explained, "This is presumed to be the result of intensified competition within the industry amid a decrease in webtoon usage following the easing of COVID-19 related restrictions." Among users who experienced comics or webtoons at least once every 2-3 months (3,500 people surveyed), the weekly usage rate was 62.8%, down 6.2 percentage points from 69% the previous year.
The average number of days webtoon artists create per week was 5.8, similar to the previous year. The percentage of those who responded '7 days' decreased by 4.1 percentage points from 37.2% to 33.1%. The average time spent on creation per day was 9.5 hours, about one hour less than the previous year.
Regarding the signing of written contracts, 98.2% of businesses answered 'yes,' while artists responded lower at 83.9%. The difference was more pronounced in the use of standard contracts. 81.9% of businesses reported applying the standard contract form as is or adopting key clauses with necessary modifications. In contrast, only 48.7% of artists said the standard contract was applied.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to announce the 'Direction for the Development of the Comics and Webtoon Industry' within this month to maintain the growth trend of the webtoon industry while narrowing the gap between the two sides' views. An official stated, "We will establish timely, state-centered systems and expand projects to solidify the status of Korea as the global leader in comics and webtoons."
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