Brand Licensing Europe Reveals 2025 Sales Data

LONDON, Oct. 06, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Brand Licensing Europe, the annual event dedicated to licensing and brand extension, has revealed that European sales of licensed merchandise and services reached $82.4 billion in 2025, marking a 3.8% increase from the previous year. Western Europe, home to many of the brands, retailers, licensees, and manufacturers attending the event, accounted for $70.1 billion, up 4%, while Eastern Europe saw a 3.2% rise to $12.3 billion.

The data from Licensing International’s Global Licensing Industry Study highlights that Character & Entertainment remains the largest IP type in Europe, accounting for 53.5% of sales, followed closely by Corporate Brands at 25.5%. Notable increases were recorded in Publishing, up 18.8%, Sports at +13.4%, and Collegiate at +7.8%. At the product level, Food & Beverage saw a significant rise of +15.8%, while Software, Video Games & Apps and Sporting Goods also experienced growth of +15.2% and +12.7%, respectively.

The results varied significantly between individual markets. The United Kingdom recorded the largest overall increase among the top four European countries, rising 7.2% to $19.2 billion, driven by sharp increases for Corporate Brands at +32.6%, Publishing at +25.1%, and Food & Beverage at +27.3%. Germany grew by 5.3% to $14.6 billion, with Publishing up 20.3% and Toys +15.8%. France reached $8.1 billion, up 1.8%, with Music rising 23.8% and Toys +14.6%. Italy generated $5 billion, an increase of 0.8%, with individual sectors moving faster, including Sports at +23.9%, Publishing at +20%, and Art at +16.7%.

Beyond Europe, global sales of licensed merchandise and services increased by 5.45% to $389.8 billion in 2025. North Asia recorded the largest regional rise at +14.1%, followed by LATAM at 7.6% and South Asia/PAC at +5.3%. The United States and Canada remain the world’s largest licensing territory, accounting for 58.3% of sales. Character & Entertainment was the largest property type globally, up 8% to $161.8 billion, followed by Corporate Brands at $98 billion. Sports climbed 8.5% to $44.4 billion, and Publishing rose 5.9% to $22.2 billion.

Apparel led product sales at $52.9 billion, followed by Toys at $46.4 billion and Software, Video Games & Apps at $43.1 billion. Of those three categories, Software, Video Games & Apps saw the fastest increase at +12.5%.

Further evidence of licensing's strength comes from new Circana data released today, which shows licensed toys continuing to significantly outperform the wider European toy market. Across the EU5 (UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), total toy sales grew +8% in value year-to-date to August 2026, while licensed toys surged +20%, two and a half times faster. Licensed products now account for 35% of all toy sales across the five markets, up from 31% in 2025.

Sport has been a major driver, with FIFA recording the largest increase on the back of this summer’s Men’s World Cup and highlighting the growing opportunity for sports licensing within toys. Movie-related properties also remain strong, up 10%, led by Toy Story, with sales six times higher than in 2025, alongside Spider-Man (+47%) and Super Mario (+43%). TV and streaming-related licensing rose +15%, with newer properties including One Piece Live Action and KPop Demon Hunters driving sales, while Pokémon remains the #1 toy property and is up a further 9%.