LIMA’s 2017 Annual Global Licensing Industry survey highlights the growth of the global brand licensing market and trends.

In the last year, the global brand licensing industry has grown 4.4% and is now worth over £200 billion (£201.6 billion). To break this down, the U.S and Canada accounts for 58% (£112.6 billion) of the brand licensing market whilst the Western European market makes up 20% (£38.8 billion) of the industry. This overwhelms Eastern Europe which equates to merely 4% (£7.3 billion) of the global industry.

More specifically, five of the top ten individual markets for licensing globally, come from Europe. These are: UK, Germany, France, Italy, and The Netherlands.

From a global perspective, the majority of growth this year was entertainment centric, driven by the content-rich Entertainment/Character sector which generated 45% of the growth (£90.7 billion). The next largest area was the 21% of revenue based on corporate brands and trademarks (equivalent to £41.9 billion).

Clothing leads all product categories with £30.1 billion in revenue, which is 15% of total global licensed retail sales, followed by Toys at £26.9 billion (13% share), and Fashion Accessories at £22.7 billion (11% share).

With regards to e-commerce, the rise in online purchases has put further pressure on bricks-and-mortar retail growth. The global LIMA survey shows that on-line sales now account for 21% of all licensed retail sales worldwide, up from 18% a year earlier. In Western Europe 19% of licensed product sales came through online channels, while China had the highest online licensed product sales at 41%. On the other hand, in Japan and France, physical retail remains dominant, accounting for over 80% of licensed goods sales in their markets respectively.