Global Sales of Licensed Merchandise Surge

Super Mario Bros. Action Figures Licensed by Nintendo | Source: Pixabay

The global licensing industry entered this year coming off of a year of growth.

According to Licensing International’s sixth annual Global Licensing Survey, sales of licensed merchandise and services grew 4.5% to $292.8 billion last year. The survey conducted by Brandar Consulting on behalf of Licensing International shows steady year-over-year growth with a 19% sales boom over the past six years.

Source: Licensing International

“The 2020 Global Licensing Survey underlines the continued growth of licensing in both developed and growth markets, as well as in both historically big and small categories,” says Licensing International President Maura Regan. “The numbers also illustrate the solid foundation that the licensing business model offers to businesses of all sorts as they work through the impacts of coronavirus this year and eagerly await the ‘next normal’ we all will face.”

Entertainment and character licensing led the charge, accounting for 43.8% of the global licensing market.

Toys held 12.2% of the total market, with a slight growth of 1.2% in retail sales of licensed toys and games last year.

The full report goes into massive detail on global licensing data and is available for purchase via Licensing International.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book and Co-President of The International Toy Magazines Association (ITMA). He is also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC), New York Comic Con, Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.