Conducted by Brandar Consulting, the LIMA Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey has found that entertainment and character licensing in 2016 accounted for US$118.3 billion (45%) of the total global licensing market.

Royalty revenue from sales of licensed merchandise and services rose 1.3% to US$14.1 billion, due to a 3.5% drop in the weighted average industry royalty rate, from 8.5% to 8.2%.

Among the categories, the second-largest industry segment was found to be Corporate Trademarks, which generated US$54.6 billion at retail.

In terms of products, apparel once again led the charge, accounting for 14.9% of total global licensed retail sales. Toys came in second at 13.3% of the total, followed by fashion accessories at 11.3%.

Interestingly, infant and pet products was the fastest-growing category, and the video games/software/apps segment grew 8.1%, making it the fifth-largest segment, accounting for 6.9% of revenue.

Looking geographically, the US and Canada remained the largest global market for licensed products last year, representing a 57.9% share. And of all regions worldwide, the South East Asia/PAC market was the fastest-growing with 6.8% year-on-year growth. It now accounts for 3.4% of total global licensing revenue.

Further excerpts from the LIMA Annual Global Licensing Survey will be published in future issues of LIMA’s Inside Licensing, and the complete report, including regional and country-by-country breakdowns for major markets, will be made available to LIMA members for free later this summer.