Retail Sales Up 4.4%;

Entertainment and Corporate Trademarks Lead the Way

Global sales of licensed products and services continued their solid growth pace in 2016, rising 4.4% to US$262.9 billion, according to the 2017 LIMA Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey.

Entertainment/Character licensing remains the largest industry category, accounting for US$118.3 billion, or 45% of the total global licensing market. Corporate/Brand Trademarks was the next biggest property type, generating US$54.6 billion in retail receipts for 20.8% of total revenues, followed by Fashion, with US$31.1 billion (11.8% of the total), and Sports at US$25.3 billion (9.6%).

The survey was conducted for the third straight year for LIMA by Brandar Consulting, LLC.

“The 2017 Survey reinforces the positive momentum of licensed products worldwide and across all categories, especially the large and growing Entertainment/Character sector,” said LIMA President Charles Riotto. “This year’s results also speak to the impressive reach and strength of licensing initiatives in growth markets around the world, contributing to the continued vitality of the industry.”

Among product categories, Apparel led the way with 14.9% of total global licensed retail sales, followed by Toys at 13.3% of the total, and Fashion Accessories at 11.3%. The fastest growing categories were Infant & Pet Products, as more licensors seek to capitalize on strong industry growth present in both sectors worldwide. Fueled by increases in home ownership and new housing starts in developing countries as well as a stronger housing market in the U.S., sales of licensed Home Décor products grew by 8.2% during the current survey period. The Video Games/Software/Apps segment was again a solid performer, growing 8.1%. It is now the fifth largest segment, accounting for 6.9% of revenue.

Royalty revenue from sales of licensed merchandise and services rose 1.3% to US$14.1 billion. This modest increase is the byproduct of a 3.5% decrease in the weighted average industry royalty rate, from 8.5% to 8.2%.

The U.S./Canada remains the largest market for licensed merchandise and services, with revenue accounting for 57.9% of the global total, up slightly from 57.7% last year. The Southeast Asia/PAC region was the fastest growing of all areas worldwide, with 6.8% year-on-year growth; it now accounts for 3.4% of global licensing revenue.

Further information from the LIMA Annual Global Licensing Survey will be published on LIMA’s website via the Inside Licensing news feed. The complete report, including regional and country-by-country breakdowns for major markets, will be made available at no charge to LIMA members later this summer.  Non-members can purchase the survey at licensing.org.