The pictures resurgence is actual: international digital camera gross sales hit one other milestone

As we glance again on the finalised information for 2025 by the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA), the worldwide digital camera market has reached an fascinating milestone.

For the primary time since 2013, the trade has seen two consecutive years of progress. The smartphone is now not killing the digital camera – it has efficiently funnelled a brand new technology of customers into ‘actual’ pictures, particularly focusing on high-end compacts and mirrorless methods.

While the times of huge unit quantity seen within the early 2010s (over 120 million items) are a distant reminiscence, the trade appears to have efficiently pivoted towards a ‘premium-first’ mannequin.

According to the most recent figures from CIPA, complete international shipments for digital cameras in 2025 has reached near 9.5 million items, reflecting a market that has lastly discovered its post-smartphone equilibrium.

Total gross sales breakdown

• Total Cameras Sold: 9.44 million items
• Interchangeable Lens Cameras (ILCs): 7.00 million items
• Mirrorless: 6.31 million items (12.5% enhance)
• DSLRs: 691,000 items (31% lower)
• Compact (Built-in Lens) Cameras: 2.44 million items (30% enhance)

Thanks and goodbye DSLRs

Mirrorless cameras now account for a staggering 82% of the whole market worth and roughly two-thirds of all items shipped. This dominance alerts the near-total eclipse of the normal DSLR, which now contains lower than 10% of recent shipments as DSLR producers like Canon and Nikon have targeted their engineering virtually completely on their respective mirrorless mounts. Meanwhile, Sony’s final DSLR, the Alpha 99 II, arrived in 2016, whereas Fujifilm’s closing mannequin, the FinePix IS Pro, dates again to 2007.

Camera costs have risen

Despite the comparatively modest unit numbers in comparison with the ‘glory days’ of digital pictures, the monetary well being of the sector stays sturdy. The complete market worth for 2025 is estimated between $5.8 and $6.2 billion USD (Over AU$8 billion)

This is pushed by a big rise within the Average Selling Price (ASP). Manufacturers are now not competing with smartphones for the informal ‘point-and-shoot’ consumer – as a substitute, they’re catering to fanatics and professionals keen to speculate closely in high-end full-frame methods and specialised optics.

Limitations of smartphones reached

The smartphone has acted as the last word ‘gateway drug’ – hooking most people on the enjoyment of pictures. As a consequence, a brand new technology of fanatics is discovering precisely why pictures stays one of many world’s most enduring hobbies. 

However, because the creator financial system matures, many content material creators are additionally hitting a ‘picture high quality ceiling’ with cell know-how. They are pushing their telephones to absolutely the restrict and discovering them wanting – significantly in terms of controlability, professional-grade imagery and low-light efficiency.

More analogue and retro

Interestingly, 2025 noticed a sustained ‘retro revival’ within the compact digital camera area. Fixed-lens cameras, as soon as regarded as a dying breed, noticed gross sales of roughly 2.4 million items – which is a 30% enhance.

This development was fuelled largely by social media tendencies and a youthful technology’s want for devoted ‘life-style’ cameras – epitomised by the continued viral success of the Fujifilm X100 series, the Ricoh GR line and the price range Kodak PixPro FZ55.

AI is all over the place

Technologically, the 12 months was outlined by the deep integration of Artificial Intelligence. 2025 marked the second computational pictures transitioned from smartphones to skilled digital camera our bodies in a significant approach. This shift moved past easy topic recognition, evolving into refined subject-movement prediction and superior in-camera noise discount.

What’s forward?

As we transfer additional into 2026, the trade seems leaner, dearer, and extra technologically superior than ever.

The progress of the vlogger and ‘solo creator’ demographic proceed to be the first engine for entry-level gross sales, guaranteeing that whereas the whole variety of photographers could also be shifting, the demand for high-quality glass and sensors stays as sharp as ever.

You can learn extra trade stats on the CIPA website.