In this file photo, a visitor looks at exhibits during the 2023 Webtoon Job Festa held at the COEX convention center in southern Seoul on Nov. 28, 2023. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s webtoon industry experienced its fifth consecutive year of sales growth in 2022, but creators faced a decline in their incomes due to increased competition, a government report showed Thursday.
According to an annual report from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the industry logged 1.829 trillion won (US$1.36 billion) in total sales that year, up 16.8 percent from the previous year.
This marks the fifth consecutive year of growth since 2018, when the ministry and its affiliate, the Korea Creative Content Agency, began surveying industry participants.
Notably, platform companies in the industry saw significant growth in 2022, with their combined sales surging by 36.8 percent on-year to 1.127 trillion won.
However, despite the overall industry growth, webtoon creators have seen a decline in their incomes in recent years due to intensified competition.
Full-time webtoon artists earned an average of 98.4 million won in 2022, a decrease of about 20 million won from the previous year, the report showed.
The ministry plans to unveil a development plan for the comic and webtoon industry later this month.
(Yonhap)
