The Pokémon Company International has celebrated another very successful year at retail in 2023, increasing sales across Europe for its Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) and toy ranges.

Pokémon maintained its position as the No. 1 property in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and also achieved its highest-ever annual position in the UK, Germany and Italy, according to figures recorded by Circana.

Pokémon was the No. 1 Circana toy property in France once again, with sales almost double that of the No. 2 brand for a third successive year, achieving 6% growth year on year. The best-performing top 15 property, Pokémon also had five items in the top 20 toys of the year.

In 2023, Pokémon achieved its highest-ever annual position in Germany, the UK and Italy. It was No. 2 in Germany (up from No. 4) with 38% growth, was the best-performing top 15 property and featured five products in the year’s top 50 toys by revenue. In the UK, Pokémon was No. 2 (up from No. 4), with the second-highest growth in the top 15 properties at 14%. Pokémon moved up to No. 3 in Italy (up from No. 4), with a remarkable 68% growth year-on-year — the second strongest growth among top 15 properties.

Pokémon was again No. 1 in both Belgium and the Netherlands, with four products in the top 50 items for the year in the latter country.

“Our continued commitment to innovation and finding new ways to connect with fans resulted in another packed programme of activity and irresistible launches which created huge buzz and massive demand, leading to another year of vigorous sales,” said Mathieu Galante, licensing director EMEA for The Pokémon Company International. “With more exciting activity planned over the coming months, we are working hard to keep Pokémon at the forefront of popular culture and build on 2023’s outstanding performance at retail.”

Simon Benton, vice president of Pokémon TCG sales for Europe, added: “The Pokémon TCG continues to go from strength to strength, with another fabulous year in 2023. It’s in no small part down to the wonderful support of our retail partners and distributors who have worked tirelessly with us to raise the profile of our products — and TCG in particular — to consumers. Despite a challenging retail environment, Pokémon continues to see robust growth, remaining the No. 1 Circana property in three countries and gaining its highest-ever position in other key territories. We look forward to building on this success further in 2024.”

This significant growth was recognised by Circana, which awarded Pokémon three major awards at Spielwarenmesse this year. The brand won Global Top Toy Property of the Year, Europe’s Top Gaining Property Total Toys and Europe’s Top Gaining Property Games & Puzzles.