Retail Sales of Licensed Merchandise Worldwide Grew 1.7% to $155.8 Billion in 2013, According to The Licensing Letter

NEW YORK, June 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail sales of licensed merchandise worldwide increased 1.7% in 2013, rising to $155.8 billion from $153.2 billion in 2012, according to The Licensing Letter, the leading source for data about the business of licensing since 1977.

The U.S. and Canada, the largest territory by far, with a 62.5% share of the global market for licensed goods, drove much of the growth, rising 2.2% to $97.5 billion. However, many smaller licensing markets grew at a faster pace with China up 9.2%, India up 8.3%, Russia up 6.1%, and Brazil up 3.9%.

Sales of licensed consumer products in Western Europe declined 0.9%, with Benelux and France seeing their rates of decline worsen compared to 2012. Western Europe is the second largest territory for licensed merchandise, with retail sales of $31.3 billion in 2013.

"Japan was essentially flat - up 0.2%, to $10.1 billion, but that represents an important turnaround," says Ira Mayer, Publisher of The Licensing Letter. "Licensing in Japan was 31.5% greater in 2008 than in 2013, with 2013 the first year in that period to see an increase."

Licensing data for 49 countries is available in the The Licensing Letter's just-released 8^th edition of "International Licensing: A Status Report." The report includes 280 charts, graphs, and tables, along with extensive market-by-market analysis of retail sales by type of intellectual property, by product category, and by geographic origin of properties sold, as well as sales per capita, a comparison of rates of growth (or decline) of licensed merchandise sales vs. GDP, and more.

The Licensing Letter is exhibiting at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas June 17-19, 2014 in Booth B-132.

About The Licensing Letter
The Licensing Letter delivers retail sales data, news of the latest licensing deals, contact information, and trend analysis to owners of intellectual property, their agents and retailers, and the manufacturers who market licensed merchandise. The twice-monthly newsletter, as well as "International Licensing: A Status Report," "Royalty Trends Report," "Sports Licensing Report," and other research studies, are published by EPM - a division of Business Valuation Resources.

Contact:
Ira Mayer, Publisher
EPM - A Division of Business Valuation Resources
Phone: [phone] x27
Email: [e-mail]

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SOURCE EPM - a division of Business Valuation Resources