Monthly data released by the Japanese Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) shows some growth in the camera market for the first half of the year, driven by the mirrorless sector.


This graph compares worldwide camera shipments from Japanese companies over the past three years, showing a steadying of volumes in the first six months of 2025. (Source: CIPA.)

The latest figures show a steady increase in shipments between January and May, which flattens out in June, when many Japanese take their annual holidays. Mirrorless cameras have increased their market dominance and now represent the overwhelming majority of cameras sold. DSLR volumes remain low and declining, while fixed lens cameras are showing slight, but steady growth, probably as a result of a couple of ‘viral’ cameras like the Fujifilm X100VI, which has been in demand since its release.

We’ve carried out our own analysis of the extensive figures released by CIPA on a monthly basis (currently up to and including June). This provides a ‘picture’ of the structure of the market, confirming the relatively low status of fixed-lens cameras and even lower production of DSLR cameras, compared with the mirrorless sector, which increased about 12%.


These two graphs provide a breakdown of the three sectors of the camera market – fixed-lens, DSLR and mirrorless – for both production volumes and production values.

Some growth has also occurred in the market for interchangeable lenses, although not as much as in the camera market. This year’s figures show a roughly equal split between lenses for cameras with full-frame or larger sensors and those with smaller sensors, as shown in the graph below.


This graph shows the roughly equal split between lenses for cameras with full-frame or larger sensors and those with smaller sensors.

Not unexpectedly, this split is larger when we look at the values of the interchangeable-lens market, shown below, where the value of the market for larger lenses far outweighs that of smaller lenses. This may be due to the fact that buyers of cameras with 35mm or larger sensors are either professional users or serious enthusiasts, who will usually purchase more than one lens for their cameras.


This graph shows the significantly greater value of the market for lenses designed for cameras with 35mm or larger sensors.

It’s worth noting the CIPA figures only use data from Japanese manufacturers so information about cameras and lenses made by manufacturers in China, Germany or other countries is not included.  The current figures appear to follow the trends established in 2024, which was the first year since 2017 where there was a year-to-year increase in the number of cameras sold/shipped globally – from 7.8 million in 2023 to 8.3 – an increase of over 6%.