Gifts / Sports & Toys

According to German toy professional media reports, despite the challenge of a high base of 11% in 2020, the German toy market will still grow strongly by 4% in 2021, and the overall scale will approach 4 billion euros (about 28.6 billion yuan). The German toy market remains in good shape.

Challenges in 2021

For the German toy market in 2021, it can be described as troubled. In the spring of 2021, the epidemic prevention and control blockade was experienced, followed by shortages of raw materials and semi-finished products, continuous supply chain and logistics problems, as well as superimposed energy prices and economic instability in Germany. Despite the challenges, the German toy market has achieved a good growth rate of 4% on the basis of an 11% increase in 2020.

It is expected to exceed the 4 billion euro mark

Categories with outstanding growth in 2021 include building blocks, games and puzzles, baby and children, and licensed toys. Among them, building blocks, games and puzzles, and baby products accounted for 60% of the toy market growth, while authorized toys accounted for 23% of the total German toy sales.

Affected by the blockade policy of epidemic prevention and control, toy sales channels have inevitably changed, mainly shifting to online and non-professional toy sales channels, while toy monopoly channels inevitably suffer losses from sales declines. According to statistics, the sales of toy monopoly channels fell slightly by 4%, but other sales channels achieved 11% growth, driving the overall sales of the German toy market to approach 3.9 billion euros, and this year is expected to exceed the 4 billion euro mark.

Building blocks and board games are the most popular

LEGO is the largest company in the German toy market, with an annual turnover of around 500 million euros, followed by the Brandstätter Group (Playmobil parent company) and Rex. The first two are mainly building blocks, and building blocks are the most popular toy category in Germany, accounting for 45% of the German toy market. The third place is the puzzle/board game company, and the entire board game category accounts for 24% of the German toy market.

Christmas sales fall short of expectations

Although the overall results are outstanding, potential problems cannot be ignored. According to the German Toy Manufacturers Association (DVSI), Christmas toy sales this year fell short of expectations. Ulrich Brobeil, the association's managing director, pointed to persistent inflation as a likely factor. It is predicted that the price increase will be difficult to curb in the near future, so toy sales may be further under pressure.

The toy monopoly market share shrinks

In the past 10 years, German consumers have spent more and more on toys. 2.6 billion euros in 2010 and 3.7 billion euros in 2020, a 12-year growth rate of about 46%. The sales channels are also very diverse. E-commerce platforms and comprehensive stores (including department stores, supermarkets, and discount stores) account for the same proportion, each accounting for 25% of the overall market, while the market share of offline brick-and-mortar toy stores is 35%.

In recent years, the number of companies engaged in toy retailing has been declining. There are currently more than 2,800 companies, nearly a thousand less than 15 years ago.

Nevertheless, Germany is still one of the top toy markets in Europe.