Global retail sales of licensed merchandise grew 1.6% in 2012

Retail sales of licensed merchandise worldwide increased 1.6% in 2012, rising to $153.2 billion from $150.8 billion in 2011, according to The Licensing Letter and an all-new supplement to International Licensing: A Status Report.

The regions showing the largest annual rise in retail sales of licensed goods were the still-emerging areas of Central and Eastern Europe, up 6.4% in 2012; Latin America, up 4.5%; and the Middle East and Africa, up 4.3%. Asia also saw increases in retail sales of licensed goods of 1.7% in 2012, with strong sales in China, India, Southeast Asia, and Korea tempered by continued struggles in Japan.

As expected, the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) all ranked among the top 10 as measured by their rates of growth in retail sales of licensed merchandise. New to the top 10 growth markets is Turkey.

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