Korea’s webtoon industry has crossed the 2-trillion-won revenue mark, but the milestone arrives alongside a sobering signal: the breakneck growth that defined the sector for most of the last decade has slowed to single digits, according to a joint survey by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency.
Domestic webtoon industry revenue reached approximately 2.2856 trillion won in 2024, up 4.4 percent from the prior year’s 2.189 trillion won. That growth rate stands in sharp contrast to the industry’s pandemic-era trajectory, when annual revenue expanded 65 percent in 2020 and roughly 48 percent in 2021, as stuck-at-home readers fueled explosive demand for mobile-native, vertically scrolling comics. Domestic monthly active users have since plateaued or, in the case of some platforms, declined; Kakao Page’s user base fell nearly 7 percent year-on-year even as Naver Webtoon’s mobile app users grew a more modest 6.7 percent.
The offsetting growth engine is overseas expansion. Japan accounts for 49.5 percent of Korean webtoon export revenue, followed by North America at 21.0 percent, with both regions’ shares expanding over the past year even as domestic engagement cooled. Korean-operated platforms Piccoma (Kakao) and Line Manga (Naver) have each built annual transaction volumes approaching 1 trillion won in Japan, effectively giving Korean vertical-scroll comics a leading position in a market long dominated by traditional print manga.
Industry watchers say the more important story is what comes next: intellectual property monetization beyond the initial online read. Of secondary revenue generated from webtoon IP, dramas account for the largest share at 38.3 percent, followed by character merchandise at 18.4 percent and animation at 10.7 percent. Content Agency research found webtoon-based dramas post average viewership ratings roughly 34 percent higher than non-webtoon originals, a built-in fanbase advantage that keeps studios returning to the format for source material.
To support that shift, the government introduced a new production cost tax credit for webtoons in 2026, offering a 10 percent credit for large and mid-sized companies and 15 percent for small and mid-sized studios, extending incentives previously reserved for film and television to the webtoon sector. Combined with new anti-piracy tools that Naver says have cut same-day illegal redistribution of new chapters by roughly 80 percent, the measures are aimed at giving an industry facing domestic stagnation more room to convert its considerable overseas readership into durable, diversified revenue.
Source: Jang Hoon, Issue & Insights, June 25, 2026, citing Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism / KOCCA 2025 Webtoon Industry Survey.
