Pokémon had a huge year in Europe in 2021

Pokémon has had a special year last year. The franchise turned no less than 25 years old and they celebrated it in a big way. With special trading cards, a CD and games, there was something for every Pokémon fan. It now appears that this has also led to large increases in turnover within Europe.

For example, in 2021, Pokémon was the number 1 toy in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In these countries plus the United Kingdom and Germany, merchandise has had the highest sales increase compared to other brands. It has therefore won the 'Best Gaming Licensed Property' at The Licensing Awards.

The increase was so high in the various countries that it was often doubled. For example, in France it increased by 102%, the UK by 78%, Germany by 100%, Belgium by 125% and the Netherlands by no less than 183%. This can also be explained by the fact that the franchise was in the top 50 toys of the year with five products. This also included the Pokémon TCG Battle Academy, which has already raised €5 million. This was therefore in seventh place in this ranking.

Thanks to these huge increases, The Pokémon Company International has decided to start local marketing in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Israel in the future.

Now it won't suddenly end in 2022. For example, Pokémon Legends: Arceus was recently released, which has already sold 6.5 million copies in one week. In addition, a new TCG expansion will be released on February 25. Brilliant Stars then comes out and adds a new game mechanic, VSTAR. In any case, Mathieu Galante of The Pokémon Company is very excited about the future.

“2021 was an exceptional year for Pokémon. Our packed program of exciting activities and launches of new and different premium products, including numerous great anniversary products, has resulted in strong demand and increased sales. We are very pleased with the excellent retail results. This demonstrates the brand's continued iconic cultural importance. We remain very focused on offering our fans even more innovations in the coming months.”

Mathieu Galante, Licensing Director EMEA of The Pokémon Company International

Pokémon in numbers

Pokémon is the best running franchise in the world and one of the most successful gaming franchises. In 25 years, the franchise has sold more than 368 million games. This is in addition to Pokémon Go's 1 billion downloads. In addition, 22 billion tickets have been sold in 77 countries. These have been published in a total of 13 languages. Finally, the anime remains popular as ever. To date, 24 seasons have been released with a total of more than 1000 episodes. These have been published in 176 countries and have been translated into no fewer than 30 languages.