LIMA: Global Retail Sales Of Licensed Goods Rose In 2015

According to the recently released second annual International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association’s Global Licensing Industry Survey, retail sales of products bearing the trademarked names and likenesses of cartoon characters, corporate logos and brands, major sports teams and more rose in 2015.

In total, licensed goods accounted for an estimated $251.7 billion in retail sales in 2015, a 4.2% increase over 2014 sales, according to LIMA.

The majority of the licensed product market growth was driven by entertainment, sports, publishing and celebrity properties. Royalty revenue grew to $13.9 billion due to a combination of retail sales increase, product mix changes and an increase in the average industry royalty rate to 8.5% from 8.2% the previous year, noted LIMA.

By category, the licensing industry continues to be dominated by character and entertainment, corporate trademarks, sports and fashion. Together, they represented 87.7% of all licensing revenues in 2015, according to the LIMA study. Character and entertainment, by far the most dominant category, accounted for 45% of retail sales and was more than double the next highest category, corporate trademark, at 21%.

The full LIMA annual global licensing study, including regional and country-by-country breakdowns for major markets, will be made available later this summer. The survey is free of charge to LIMA members and priced at $750 for non-members.