For the First Time in History, Weekly Shonen Jump Sales Sink Below 1 Million

On August 6, 2026, it has been stated that Weekly Shonen Jump has officially lowered the amount of printed magazines per weekly circulation to 985,000 from April to June 2026.

This is the first time in 55 years that the publication has reduced its printing output, representing the among of copies being sold.

The last time the magazine published less than a million was in 1971, back when the magazine was still starting out after being launched on July 11, 1968.

At its peak in 1994, the magazine sold 6.53 million copies per week, which was when Dragon Ball (1984-1995) by Akira Toriyama and Slam Dunk (1990-1996) by Takehiko Inoue were in their heights.

In terms of volumes, by 2000, Dragon Ball sold over 126 million copies in Japan alone while in 2004, Slam Dunk reached 100 million copies.

However, there had been a decline across the decades.

When One Piece and Naruto took Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk’s place as the best-sellers, the magazine reached 4 million in 1997 but then declined to 3.6 million per issue from 1998 to 2000, to 3.4 million in 2001 with Bleach’s debut.

Meanwhile, as the “Big Three” of Shonen Jump neared their peaks from 2010 to 2013, they averaged 2.8 million per issue.

This is attributed to the shift and rise of digital platforms as alternatives to buying physical weekly magazines, as well as the conclusion of major titles such as Naruto and Bleach from 2014 to 2016, by which time the magazine averaged 2 million, especially with the introduction of the publisher’s digital platform, Shonen Jump Plus in 2014, and later My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen in 2024, by which time the magazine capped at 1.1 to 1.3 million copies per issue.

This also explains the decrease in physical volume sales as well, with Kagurabachi being the best-selling of the new generation (2023 onwards) at 4.5 million as of this year.

However, Weekly Shonen Jump titles do still find success through anime streaming and merchandise.

This is also a concern once One Piece, Jump’s flagship title for the past 30 years, ends, since it is currently in its Final Saga as of 2022.

Source: Twitter

Weekly Shonen Jump has officially reduced its average print circulation to 985.000 copies from April to June 2026, according to the Japan Magazine Publishers Association.

This is the first time since 1971 that the magazine’s print circulation has fallen below 1 million copies.

https://t.co/PsG4yt0r8C

— Shonen Jump News (@WSJ_manga) August 6, 2026

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