Last year, $174 billion was spent on branded merchandise in the United States, accounting for approximately 51% of global branded merchandise spending.
That’s one of the main takeaways from the global economic impact study that PPAI commissioned from Oxford Economics, an independent global advisory firm. The study examines the size and economic footprint of branded merch across the full value chain, moving beyond the traditional distributor sales measures that have long served as important industry benchmarks.
The $174 billion consists of $50 billion in promotional products and $124 billion in licensed merchandise, which covers physical products sold under licensing agreements. For the study’s purposes, promotional products are primarily created, customized or sourced to support marketing, engagement and affinity.
That distinction matters. The $50 billion figure shouldn’t be interpreted as the size of the entire U.S. branded merchandise market. Promo products represent one major component, while licensed merchandise accounts for the larger share.
At the same time, promo products alone represent a substantial part of the U.S. marketing economy. Oxford estimates the $50 billion promotional-products market is equivalent to approximately 13% of total U.S. advertising spending in 2025.
Taking A Deeper Dive
How did Oxford arrive at that $50 billion estimate? Let’s dive in.
PPAI’s annual sales research has traditionally measured approximately $27 billion in U.S. promotional products sales through distributors. That remains an important and consistent benchmark for understanding the traditional distributor channel.
The published study confirms that the broader estimate captures traditional distributors as well as direct supplier and manufacturer purchases, third-party e-commerce sellers, artisan producers and products buyers purchase for internal decoration.
Alok Bhat
PPAI’s Market Economist, Research & Public Affairs Lead
Oxford’s underlying market sizing analysis provides additional insight into how the roughly $50 billion market is distributed. Rounded to help illustrate the overall market rather than imply precise audited revenue by channel, the picture is approximately:
- $27B through promo distributors
- ~$6B in direct manufacturer sales
- ~$5B through third-party e-commerce
- ~$5B through artisan producers
- ~$3B in products purchased for in-house decoration
- ~$3B through other purchasing routes
- ~$1B in direct supplier sales
Together, those purchasing routes help explain the broader $50 billion U.S. promo market.
“The important thing is to understand what each number is telling us,” says Alok Bhat, PPAI’s market economist and research and public affairs lead. “Our distributor sales benchmark remains critical for understanding the traditional promo products channel. What this study adds is another lens, showing us the broader marketplace and the different ways buyers are obtaining promo products today.”
The roughly $23 billion beyond the traditional distributor benchmark should therefore not simply be viewed as business that distributors have “lost.”
Instead, it represents a combination of purchasing routes, some of which are firmly within the existing promo ecosystem, including direct purchases from industry suppliers and manufacturers.
Where Suppliers Fit In
The role of suppliers is particularly important because supplier activity can show up in different parts of the economic system.
If a supplier sells a product to a distributor, who then sells it to an end buyer, the study doesn’t add both transactions together as separate final market spending. (That would count the same merchandise more than once.)
Instead, market-sizing methodology begins with final spending. It then traces how that value flows through the industry.
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Direct purchases from suppliers and manufacturers to end buyers are captured as separate purchasing routes. For products sold through distributors, Oxford traces value backward from downstream distributors and retailers through midstream suppliers and decorators and into upstream manufacturing.
- Oxford defines the midstream portion of the branded merchandise value chain as firms involved in wholesale, sourcing, promotional product supply, decoration and embroidery.
- Distributors and other buyer-facing firms are downstream, while manufacturers sit upstream.
“This is one of the areas where the research helps us think about the industry differently,” Bhat says. “The same product can touch a manufacturer, supplier, decorator and distributor before it reaches the customer. Simply adding every company’s revenue would overstate the market. Oxford starts with the final purchase and then looks at where value is actually created throughout that chain.”
Don’t Confuse The Numbers
Another critical distinction is between market spending and economic contribution.
The numbers happen to be similar in the U.S., but they represent very different concepts.
While the $174 billion figure measures how much was spent on branded merchandise, the study separately estimates that the U.S. branded merch sector supported approximately $170.2 billion in GDP, 1.2 million jobs and $37 billion in tax contributions in 2025.
- Of the total GDP contribution, approximately $68 billion was generated directly by the branded merch industry, with the remaining contribution supported through supply chain activity and spending by workers whose employment is connected to the sector.
“The $174 billion spending number and the $170 billion GDP number should never be read as interchangeable,” Bhat says. “One tells us the size of the market. The other tells us about the economic activity that market supports as spending moves through businesses, supply chains, jobs and the broader U.S. economy.”
The research also provides a clearer picture of where the U.S. industry creates economic value:
- Approximately 69% of the industry’s direct U.S. GDP contribution comes from downstream firms.
- Another 21% comes from midstream firms.
- About 10% comes from upstream manufacturing.
Employment tells a similar story. Of the approximately 584,000 jobs directly generated by the U.S. branded merch industry, Oxford estimates about 389,000 are downstream, 141,000 are midstream and 54,000 are upstream.
- That means roughly nine in 10 direct U.S. industry jobs sit in downstream and midstream activities.
- Those activities include distribution, buyer relationships, sourcing, warehousing, decoration, customization and other services involved in bringing merch to market.
The finding helps illustrate why branded merch shouldn’t be viewed simply as a manufacturing business. Rather, it’s an interconnected economic ecosystem involving manufacturers, suppliers, decorators, distributors, retailers, e-commerce businesses and the companies that support them.
Oxford also captures indirect economic activity from industries serving that ecosystem, including logistics providers, packaging producers, technology vendors, materials suppliers and equipment manufacturers.
Substantial Value Stays In The U.S.
The study also provides an important perspective on sourcing. Branded merch operates through a global supply chain, but that doesn’t mean all the economic value associated with a product leaves the U.S. when production occurs overseas.
WATCH: PPAI, Oxford Economics Break Down Global Study Findings
Oxford estimates that for every $1 spent on branded merch in the U.S., approximately 61 cents is retained domestically.
- For promo products specifically, Oxford estimates the domestic share at approximately 70 cents for every dollar spent.
That domestic value reflects the work taking place across distribution, sourcing, customization, decoration, warehousing, retail and other activities surrounding the physical product.
“For our industry, that’s an important finding,” Bhat says. “Global sourcing is part of the reality of branded merchandise, but there is still significant economic value being created here in the U.S. through the people and businesses that source, customize, sell, distribute and support these products.”
Broader Market & Broader Opportunity
Taken together, the findings give the industry several different ways to understand itself:
- The traditional distributor sales benchmark continues to provide an important measure of the core promo products channel.
- The $50 billion promo products estimate provides a broader view of the total U.S. purchasing market.
- Adding $124 billion in licensed merchandise expands the picture to the $174 billion U.S. branded merchandise market.
- And the $170.2 billion GDP contribution, 1.2 million jobs and $37 billion in tax revenues show the economic footprint supported by that marketplace.
“The biggest takeaway is that we now have a much clearer picture of the market we serve,” Bhat says. “The opportunity is broader than the traditional channel alone. The next step is understanding where that additional activity is happening, how buyer behavior is changing and how our members can use these insights to capture more of the opportunity.” Explore the complete U.S. findings, global results, infographics and country-level research at www.ppai.org/economicstudy/country/us/
