2024 marks the first increase in digital camera shipments since 2017
Total shipment volume of lenses
We always like to look at the sales of lenses because compared to simple cameras, these lenses can better reflect the overall situation of the industry. Compared to 2023, we see an increase of approximately 500000 lenses in 2024.
The following table lacks important information on the distinction between APS-C (and smaller format) lenses and full frame (and larger format) lenses. In 2024, out of a total of 9.6 million lenses shipped, approximately 4.5 million were full frame and larger format lenses, while only over 5 million were APS-C and smaller format lenses. Both of these numbers indicate an annual growth rate of approximately 5%.
Lensvid has released an overview of the digital camera industry for 2024. Here are some charts based on CIPA data:
As we have done every year for over a decade, today we will take a look at industry statistics, focusing on the camera industry in 2024 and comparing it to 2023 and some previous years.
CIPA's data only includes Japanese manufacturers, therefore information on cameras and lenses produced in countries such as China, Germany, South Korea, and the United States will not be included in this.
The following information is based on CIPA production data. These are usually very close to the number of cameras/lenses shipped. At present, there are no actual sales of cameras/lenses, but these are also very close (cameras/lenses usually do not stay on shelves for a long time).
Total shipment of cameras
2024 is the first year of year-on-year growth in global camera sales/shipments since 2017, increasing from 7.8 million units in 2023 to 8.3 million units, a growth of over 6%.
Does this mean that the camera industry has already hit bottom in 2023, and from now on, the future will only see an increase in sales? At present, it is uncertain, but the actual breakdown later in this article may help us better understand the trend.
Camera shipment statistics from various regions of the world
Finally, take a look at camera sales/shipments in different regions of the world. CIPA divides the world into Japan, China, Asia (excluding China and Japan), Europe, the Americas, and all other regions.
Looking at the chart below, we immediately see that China is the fastest-growing region in 2024, with nearly 2 million cameras shipped in 2024 (a similar situation compared to 2022, increasing from 1.2 million to 1.5 million in 2023). The shipment volume of cameras in Europe remains basically unchanged, while the shipment volume of cameras in other regions has slightly increased.
conclusion
Looking ahead to 2025, it is expected that there will not be significant changes. Unless there are some major global changes, we will see a slight increase in most sales (especially for mirrorless cameras), and even growth in compact cameras, driven by the Fujifilm X100 series. There may be RX1 successors and some new imaging cameras emerging.