As part of Brand Licensing’s kick-off yesterday, industry researcher NPD released its latest stats on the UK licensing market – and the numbers look pretty good. Toys continue to bring in the lion’s share of sales, and that segment experienced double-digit growth over the past 12 months, helping to push the total spend on licensed goods for kids ages zero to 14 in the UK up to US$4.89 billion.

NPD credited summer, action-oriented blockbusters such as Transformers with the spike in toy sales, but added that TV-driven properties still make up the biggest chunk of the revenue pie. As for standouts this year, NPD singled out the merch program for Ragdoll/BBC Worldwide’s preschool series In the Night Garden as coming on particularly strong in recent months. Currently, UK parents are annually plunking down an average of US$436 per child on licensed products. For an in-depth look at the state of the UK market, check out KidScreen‘s September 07 issue.