Camera brands are now shipping 5x more compact cameras than DSLRs, as camera shipments continue to grow

The CIPA trend of 2025 seems to be the growth of compact camera as DSLR shipments rapidly decline – and according to the latest numbers from Japan's Camera and Imaging Products Association, camera brands are now shipping 5x more compact cameras than DSLRs.

The mirrorless camera category remains the dominant form, shipping more than 669,000 mirrorless bodies worldwide in October alone, according to the latest CIPA data. But, the worldwide shipments for compact cameras in October numbered more than 288,000, while DSLR shipments continued to decline with just over 56,500 shipments for that month.

That means camera brands have shipped more than five times as many compact cameras as DSLRs in October alone. While compact camera numbers have been increasing and DSLR numbers decreasing all year, October shows an unusually large difference. Taking the total shipments for the first ten months of 2025, compact camera shipments are only around 3.3 times the number of DSLRs.

The decline of DSLRs is hardly surprising as key camera brands shift focus to mirrorless, but it comes at a time when compact cameras have made a surprising comeback, thanks in part to the category’s newfound viral fame and the slowed progress on smartphone cameras.

Looking at the total number of cameras shipped regardless of category still shows an overall growth, with October sitting at 119.1% of September’s numbers and 112.6% of the same month last year.

Both mirrorless and compact camera categories continue to show growth, looking at both production and shipment numbers. Cameras with built-in lenses, which include compact cameras and bridge cameras, are 160% of the same month last year in worldwide shipments and 137.2% when tallying production rather than shipments.

For mirrorless, production numbers for October 2025 are 105% of the same month last year, with similar numbers looking at shipments at 105.8%. Totaling the first ten months of the year, 2025 is showing 111.8% of last year’s numbers in shipments so far, and 11.3 in production for mirrorless.

Looking at sensor size, the production of full-frame or larger cameras had the most growth at 112.7% compared to the previous month’s numbers, where smaller sensor cameras sat at 106%. Smaller sensor interchangeable lens cameras – which tend to be the more affordable options – remain the highest number produced at 420,454 in October alone, compared to 264,115 interchangeable lens cameras with full-frame or larger sensors.

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