One Piece has grown in popularity over the past few years, having existed for over two decades at the time of writing. But with so many dedicated fans and admirers, many wonder how much money the One Piece franchise has made and how much it is worth.

Editor's Note: This report has been updated to reflect the current status of One Piece's net worth and earnings. The following issues are the latest available, and the article will be updated as newer issues become available.

One Piece Franchise

One Piece originally began its journey as a Japanese manga series, written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda in 1997, and later in an English-translated form thanks to Viz Media in the UK and North America, and Madman Entertainment in Australia. Shortly after its debut, it was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump, and its individual chapters have been compiled into 107 tankōbon volumes so far.

The main characters of One Piece are undeniably lovable, including the infamous Luffy and his loyal Straw Hat Pirates, in addition to some classic and infamous characters who shape the storyline from afar. After One Piece began gaining a huge following after its original release, it was turned into a media franchise.

One Piece was produced as an anime series by Toei Animation, which began airing in Japan in 1999 and further increased the story's popularity. However, the One Piece media franchise also includes a ton of films, including fourteen animated feature films, one original video animation, and thirteen television specials.

There are also additional expansions to the One Piece franchise, although they may not have been created by the same people. Various other companies have come along and decided to release more specialized but still very popular extras for One Piece fans, including merchandise, media, products, and a wide range of One Piece video games for almost every gaming platform.

How much money did the One Piece franchise make?

Given the One Piece franchise's passionate fan base around the world, it's no surprise that the franchise has managed to rake in some serious cash along the way. According to Comic Book, the One Piece franchise has grossed well over $20 billion since its debut in 1977, as of this writing.

In fact, by early 2019, One Piece had managed to surpass J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic fantasy franchise, The Lord of the Rings, which has been valued at approximately $19.9 billion in total revenue since its debut. However, this only applies to the official One Piece franchise (the written and illustrated manga and media franchise) and does not include the additional One Piece ventures that have been created over the past two decades.

The weekly One Piece anime series is undoubtedly profitable, but not as profitable as the One Piece manga. Additionally, One Piece merchandise and video games are estimated to have grossed around $8.87 billion in early 2019. This doesn't top Tolkien's masterpiece in this regard, as The Lord of the Rings grossed $9.13 billion in 2019, but the One Piece franchise still made more money overall.

One Piece Figure

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How much is the One Piece franchise worth?

One Piece is definitely at the top of the list when it comes to successful manga and anime franchises with total revenues of $20 billion to $21 billion—not only for the revenue they generate, but also for the value they provide to their fans. One Piece has sold over 516.5 million copies, spread across 61 countries and regions worldwide.

Below is a rough overview of the value of each sector of the One Piece franchise, thanks to dedicated One Piece fans on Reddit:

One Piece franchise segment	Monetary value
One Piece Manga Magazines	$8.725 billion
One Piece Merchandise Sales	$5.904 billion
One Piece manga volumes	$2.707 billion
One Piece video games	$1.627 billion
One Piece Home Entertainment	$1.187 billion
One Piece Anime Tickets	$433 million

The figures reported by One Piece are significantly higher in Japan when converted to yen. Below is a snapshot of the profits the One Piece films have made in Japanese yen thanks to One Sports, showing a fairly consistent trend in terms of financial success:

One Piece Movie	Approximate income	Year of release
One Piece Movie: GOLD	5.18 billion JPY	2016
One Piece Movie: Z	6.87 billion JPY	2012
One-piece stamp	5.55 billion JPY	2019
One Piece Movie: Red	7 billion yen	2022

These figures make it one of the best-selling manga series in history, as well as the best-selling comic book series printed in book format. But it also shows that One Piece is certainly one of the most profitable media franchises of all time.

Why is One Piece so popular?

The One Piece saga has received fair criticism from countless anime and manga fans, as it's certainly not what one would expect for a similar type of story. But this may be a significant factor in why One Piece is so popular and beloved by fans around the world, as there was nothing like it back when it first debuted.

Rather than focusing on a main protagonist and antagonist, or even a team of villains, One Piece focuses on a group of young heroes and their mission to defeat One Piece's iconic "villains" while embarking on adventures. Each character is given ample detail, supplemented either by context and backstory or by strategically designed space for mystery and questions.

The series has been praised for its storytelling, artwork and visual style, characterization, and plenty of humor and comedic twists to keep fans on the edge of their seats 24 hours a day. The One Piece franchise has received numerous awards, complemented by very impressive ratings from both official critics and fans.

Some volumes of One Piece have gone on to break publication records, including the highest initial print run of any book in Japan. Additionally, One Piece set the Guinness World Record for "Most Copies Published for the Same Comic Book Series by a Single Author" between 2015 and 2022.

One Piece was also dubbed the best-selling manga for eleven consecutive years from 2008 to 2018, and is the only manga to have had an initial print run of over 3 million volumes (which was actually the average and stable figure for over a decade). One Piece is also the only series to have sold over 1 million copies in over 100 tankōbon volumes published.

Even though it seems like the One Piece saga is nearing its final arc after roughly 25 years of existence, there's still plenty of content to enjoy thanks to a perfect blend of action, fantasy, and adventure—not to mention rumors that One Piece will continue for years to come. It's safe to say that One Piece remains one of the most iconic anime and manga franchises of all time.

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