Toy sales in the big five European markets hit record levels in 2014, says NPD.
Toy sales in the big five European markets – UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain – hit record levels in 2014, with €12.1 billion of sales in 2014, thanks in part to sales of loom bands, Frozen and World Cup merchandise. Frederique Tutt from NPD Group presented this and other facts and figures in her seminar on the second day at BLE 2015.
Toy sales across all the major markets are buoyant, with largest market – the US – up 7% on 2013 figures. The largest growth is in Mexico, with toy sales up a massive 19%, boosted by licensed products. The only market that experienced a decline was France, which decreased 2%.
“2014 was the biggest year ever for toy sales – up from €11.6 billion in 2013 to €12.1 billion in 2014,” says Frederique Tutt, global toy industry analyst for NPD Group. “And we’re expecting sales to increase a further 2.7% this year to bring 2015 sales to a record €12.4 billion.”
Much of this growth comes from licensed products, with Playmobil, Frozen and Star Wars taking the top three places in terms of sales. However, when it comes to properties making the biggest gains, Frozen takes the top spot, with over double the value of the next biggest property – LEGO Ninjago.
“Frozen shows no signs of cooling down,” says Frederique. “In the UK growth has slowed down since the beginning of 2015, but in other European markets, such as Germany, it doesn’t seem to have reached its peak yet. We think Frozen will remain a perennial licence. It will probably stabilise, but it will still remain a popular licence.”
Another area experiencing phenomenal growth is the superhero property – which has increased 57% since 2012. This growth has been driven by the strong stable of Marvel brands. “We’re also starting to see the growth of superheroes targeted more towards girls,” says Frederique. “Mysticons from Nelvana is coming in 2017 and Cartoon Network is set to relaunch the Powerpuff Girls in 2016.”
Looking towards the end of 2015 Frederique thinks that Frozen will remain number one. “Star Wars is going to big towards the end of 2015, but it probably won’t knock Frozen from the number one spot,” says Frederique.
And looking further ahead to 2016, Frederique has her eye on a number of game-changing products in the US: Hello Barbie, the first interactive Barbie doll; Playmation, an interactive roleplay toy/game from Disney and Lego Dimensions, with sales already up 24% in the US (ytd July).
