Pokémon Celebrates Exceptional Year
The Pokémon Company International has announced that Pokémon celebrated another remarkable year at retail in 2024, with strong sales across Europe for its Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) and toy ranges.
For the first time, Pokémon became the No. 1 property in Italy, in addition to maintaining its top position in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. It also consolidated its position in the top three in the UK and Germany and achieved its highest-ever annual position in Spain, according to figures recorded by Circana[1].
In a sensational year in Italy, Pokémon reached the top spot (up from No. 3 in 2023) with an outstanding 30% growth year on year against a market decline of 3%. The second best-performing top 15 property, in terms of % growth, its market share rose by a huge 35% and it had four items in the top 50 products of the year.
Pokémon continues to dominate the French market. The No. 1 Circana toy property in France once again, it achieved nine percent growth year on year (total market declined 1%) with a market share almost three times that of the No. 2 brand (5.8% v 2.1%). In a huge finish to the year, it was up 62% y-o-y for December versus the market’s 4%.
In Germany, Pokémon maintained its No. 2 position, with a 0.5% gain in market share, and enjoyed a strong December here too: up 15% against the market’s 5%. The brand took the No. 3 spot in the UK, where its market share of 2.7% equalled that of the No. 2 property, and again finished the year strongly with 14% growth vs the market’s 5%.
Pokémon was again No. 1 in both Belgium and the Netherlands, while in Spain – the first time it has reported on that territory – it moved up to No. 6 from last year’s No. 8 with an annual performance in line with the market.
“Our reputation for innovation and quality, and the brand’s sense of adventure, friendship and fun, continues to resonate with our expanding and diverse global fanbase. We are always looking for fresh and relevant ways to connect and engage with them, and last year’s packed programme of activity, which included exciting new products and launches across our whole portfolio, once again created enormous buzz and immense demand, producing another year of vigorous sales,” said Mathieu Galante, licensing director EMEA for The Pokémon Company International. “As we approach Pokémon’s 30th anniversary in 2026, we are gearing up with more exciting activity throughout the year designed to thrill our fans, keep Pokémon at the forefront of popular culture and build on 2024’s robust performance at retail.”
“Pokémon TCG continues to set the benchmark in this category, with another terrific year in 2024,” said Simon Benton, vice president of Pokémon TCG sales for Europe. “We have worked tirelessly with our amazing retail partners and distributors to promote our products — TCG in particular — to consumers in an increasingly competitive and challenged retail environment and, helped by their fantastic support, Pokémon continues to enjoy robust success. It’s now the No. 1 Circana property in four countries and is also performing strongly in other key territories, and we have some great things in store planned for fans throughout 2025.”
Pokémon’s strong performance was recognized by Circana (formerly NPD), who named Pokémon Global Top Toy Property of the Year at its 14th annual Toy Industry Performance Awards in January.
