For years, U.S. distributor sales numbers have been used as de facto benchmarks for the size of the branded merchandise industry, but those figures don’t tell the whole story. The impact of branded merch doesn’t stop with a consumer receiving a product.
That’s why PPAI commissioned Oxford Economics, an independent global advisory firm, to carry out a massive undertaking: Determine the global economic impact of the branded merchandise industry. “This is really the first study of its kind,” says Alice Gambarin, associate director at Oxford Economics. “It aims to look at the industry from end to end.”
Branded merch, through its diverse range of products, experiences and sales mediums, generates substantial economic value and supports a wide network of jobs and supply chains. Working in branded merch, whether for a small business or a billion-dollar supplier, means being part of a globally interconnected industry whose economic footprint stretches across markets, supply chains and communities around the world.
- After months of assessment, Oxford Economics estimates that the branded merchandise sector supported $472.3 billion in global GDP in 2025.
- Individual countries’ results can be explored at a microsite created for the research: PPAI.org/economicstudy.
- The full Branded Merchandise Global Market Report is available for Premium Research subscribers.
- This is equivalent to $1 for every $250 of the global GDP or an economy comparable to the size of Colombia.
- The United States supported $170.2 billion in GDP and accounted for approximately 51% of global branded merchandise spending.
“Until now, our industry hasn’t had a comprehensive way to demonstrate that full impact,” says Drew Holmgreen, CAS, president and CEO of PPAI. “Distributor sales estimates have provided valuable benchmarks, but they capture only one portion of a much larger and more complex ecosystem. PPAI commissioned this study by Oxford Economics to establish a credible, independent and globally relevant understanding of branded merchandise, from the sourcing of raw materials through customization and distribution to the many ways merchandise is ultimately gifted, sold and experienced.”
Drew Holmgreen, CAS
President & CEO, PPAI
In order to measure the global economic footprint of branded merchandise and ultimately determine these numbers, the study assessed the industry by its direct impact, indirect impact and induced impact in order to paint a picture of just how much branded merch is touching from an economic perspective.
- The production and sale of branded merch spans all three channels:
More Key Findings
In just the U.S. alone, the Oxford Economics study found that the branded merch sector supported 1.2 million jobs and $37 billion in tax revenues. Expand that reach to the entire globe, and the industry supported 11.9 million jobs worldwide, including 4.1 million directly within the industry.
It would be easy to comb through the pages of this report and perceive the findings strictly through a financial lens, but Danny Rosin, CAS, PPAI Board Chair and co-president of Brand Fuel, PPAI 100’s No. 42 distributor, says that they point toward human ramifications.
“An industry with $338 billion in global spend supporting nearly 12 million jobs and almost half a trillion dollars in GDP contribution is an economic force,” says Rosin. “But what excites me most is the real impact those numbers represent: millions of people creating tangible connections between brands, organizations and the people they care about. We’ve always known our work matters. Now the world has the numbers to prove it.”
Danny Rosin, CAS
PPAI Board Chair
The report found that $338.3 billion was spent on branded merchandise globally in 2025.
- Of that, $108.6 billion was spent on promotional products.
- $229.7 billion came from licensed merchandise.
Finally, distributors and suppliers are able to get their arms around what they’ve had a sense of all along, the sheer magnitude of the industry’s impact. For example, the economic activity generated by the sector supported $141.3 billion in global tax revenues. That is enough to fund the entire 2025 budget of New York State.
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The U.S. Proves To Be A Force In The Market
If there was any question, the Oxford Economics study confirms the outsized role of the U.S., which is the world’s largest branded merchandise market by spending and GDP contribution. Not only is it the leading country, but it made up more than half (about 51%) of the global total of spend on branded merch.
The U.S. spent $174 billion on branded merch in 2025.
- This figure breaks down to $50 billion in promotional products and $124 billion in licensed merchandise.
Put another way, the $170.2 billion GDP contribution that came from branded merch represented approximately 0.6% of U.S. GDP, or about $1 in every $180 of U.S. economic activity. Traditional promotional products spending alone was equivalent to roughly 13% of estimated U.S. advertising spending in 2025.
Branded Merch Is More Than Products
If branded merch’s true value had been difficult to calculate, its definition had also been difficult to articulate.
Most branded merch professionals would agree that more goes into it than what people often understand “promotional products” to be. The undertaking required for the process of this study revealed plenty about what goes into the industry, how far reaching it is and how many people it touches.
“One of the most powerful things about this study is that it lets us see branded merchandise as an entire economic ecosystem, from sourcing and manufacturing through suppliers, decorators and distributors, all the way to activation and the end buyer,” says Alok Bhat, PPAI’s market economist and research and public affairs lead. “That ecosystem doesn’t look the same everywhere. The balance between manufacturing, distribution and services changes significantly from country to country.
Alok Bhat
Market Economist, Research & Public Affairs Lead, PPAI
“For our members, and for the marketers and buyers who invest in branded merchandise, I hope this creates a real sense of pride in just how broad, interconnected and economically meaningful this industry is around the world.”
No longer reduced by the traditional definition of promotional products, the branded merchandise industry can mean many things. For example, this study included:
- licensed merchandise
- apparel and workwear
- retail-branded goods
- creator merchandise
- print-on-demand and e-commerce products
- recognition gifts and merchandise used in marketing
- events and brand activations
The only thing uniting all of them is their role as tangible expressions of a brand. Now the industry has a tangible benchmark for understanding its global economic footprint.
