KEY POINTS
TIE AND ITS MEMBERS
July 2010
2009
Total production of toys in the European Union (EU)
in 2009 was approximately €5 billion (manufacturer’s
price), of which 80% was generated by France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain, the UK, the Czech Republic and Poland.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Toy Industries of Europe (TIE)
Almost 2,000 manufacturers work in the toy sector
in the EU, approximately 80% of which is composed
of SMEs.
The toy industry directly employs nearly 100,000
people in the EU in production, research and development, marketing, sales, distribution, and many
other services.
Total exports of traditional toys* from EU27 countries to non EU countries in 2009 were €953.2 million
(-2.4% compared to 2008).
Total imports of traditional toys* from non EU countries to EU27 in 2000 were €5.78 billion (-10.5% compared to 2008). China is the leading supplier which
accounts for 86% of total imports.
The total retail market for traditional toys* in the EU
totalled €14.485 billion in 2009.
In terms of revenue (turnover at retail including tax),
the European toy market was the largest in the
world in 2009.
The leading toy category in the EU in 2009 was infant/preschool toys with almost 20% market share.
* All figures refer only to traditional toys and do not include video games.
A special thanks to the national toy associations, Ubifrance , the NPD Group, Eurostat and customs authorities for providing the facts and figures used in this brochure.
Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) is a trade association for
the European toy industry, which comprises over 25% of
the total world toy market. The toy industry is highly
international and is one of the most dynamic business
sectors in Europe. The European toy industry is also
unique as approximately 80% of the sector is composed
of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which
have less than 50 employees. Members of TIE include
corporate companies and national associations from
Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
Spain, Sweden, the UK and the Nordic region. TIE
membership is open to both corporate companies with a
presence in Europe and EU national associations
(including candidate countries).
“Copyright © 2010 Toy Industries of Europe. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any medium
requires our permission. This document may contain information of, or links to, other parties. Their
opinions are not necessarily those of the Toy industries of Europe. The presence of any link or
information of other parties should not be construed as an endorsement of those parties or the
accuracy of their information.”
Toy Industries of Europe (TIE)
Boulevard de Waterloo 36
1000 Brussels
Phone: + 32 2 213 41 90
Fax: + 32 2 213 41 99
E-mail: [email protected]
www.tietoy.org
CONSUMPTION
General trends
The overall retail market for traditional toys* in the EU totalled
€14.485 billion in 2009. This figure represents 1,400 billion units
of toys.
The toy business is highly seasonal, with consumers making the
majority of purchases (approximately 60%) during the Christmas
period (November-December). Toy sales also tend to experience
a relative increase during Easter, the summer break and during
the post-holiday season.
Distribution channels by country in 2009
Toy shops remain the leading distributors and held more than
one-third of the total EU market share in 2009, followed by
super/hypermarkets and other types of retailers. The evolution
of the retail sector is also subject to regional variations. In
France, Spain and Italy, most toys are sold via hypermarkets,
whereas in Germany and the UK, toy specialists and other
retailers have a larger presence.
FR
DE
IT
ES
UK
Total
Department stores¹
1%
14%
5%
17%
5%
7.2%
Discount/variety stores²
2%
6%
5%
2%
6%
4.1%
Mail order catalogues and
online/internet³
6%
14%
1%
0%
6%
6.5%
Super/hypermarkets⁴
41%
15%
39%
32%
19%
Toy shops⁵
45%
40%
34%
45%
Other types of retailers⁶
5%
11%
16%
Total
100%
100%
100%
Main toy categories
The leading toy category
in the EU in 2009 was
infant/preschool
toys
with close to 20% market
share followed by games
and puzzles (12.7%), dolls
(11.5%) and outdoor toys
(10.7%).
Together these categories
comprised over half of all
toy sales in the EU in
2009.
Infant/preschool toys
19.9%
EXPORTS TO NON-EU COUNTRIES
Games/puzzles
12.7%
€953.2 million in 2009 (-2.4% compared to 2008)
Dolls
11.5%
Outdoor and sports toys
10.7%
Vehicles
10.3%
Building sets
7.7%
Action figures and accessories
6.8%
DK 8.5%
Arts and crafts
6.1%
UK 6.3%
Plush
5.0%
Youth electronics
2.7%
All other toys
6.6%
Total
100%
Our children
It is estimated that there are over 78 million children under the
age of 14 in the EU27, approximately one-third of which are under the age of 5 years. The birth rate in the EU in 2009 was 9.9
births per 1000 (5,421,731 births).
Age
Number (in millions)
Less than 5 years
33.6%
0-4 years
26.2
Between 5 and 9 years
32.7%
27.9%
5-9 years
25.5
Between 10 and 14 years
33.7%
36%
40.2%
10-14 years
26.4
4%
28%
14.1%
Total
78.1
100%
100%
100%
SV 2.5%
NL 3.4%
CZ 25.6%
FR 4.5%
DE 23.1%
ES 4.7%
IT 8.0%
In 2009, other countries included: Austria: 2.0%, Belgium: 2.0%, Hungary:
1.4%, Slovakia: 0.8%, Greece: 0.8%, Romania: 0.8%, Portugal: 0.5%, Lithuania:
0.5%, Slovenia: 0.5%, Malta: 0.4%, Bulgaria: 0.3%, Finland: 0.2%, Ireland: 0.1%,
Latvia: 0.1, Estonia: 0.1%, Cyprus: 0%, Luxembourg: 0%.
IMPORTS FROM NON-EU COUNTRIES
€5.78 billion in 2009 (-10.5% compared to 2008)
NL 7.3%
1 Includes departments stores such as El Corte Ingles, Kaufhof, Galeries Lafayette
2 Urban non-toy specialists (book shops, CD shops, generalists)
3 Includes companies like Quelle and La Redoute
4 Mass merchant stores such as Carrefour, Tesco, Auchan
5 Toy chains and toy shops, e.g. Toys‘R‘Us, La Grande Récré, Toys Center
6 Non-toy specialists shops (catalogue show rooms, market, others e.g. Argos)
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS
UK 23.3%
Market share in 2009
In terms of market share, the majority of EU toy sales (78%) took
place in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the
Netherlands.
Destinations of exports to
non EU countries
Sources of imports from non
EU countries
BE 6.2%
US
16.7%
China
86.3%
FR 14.5%
Switzerland
16.2%
Hong Kong
3.8%
UK
20.5%
Other main countries included:
Norway
12.3%
US
1.7%
France
20.1%
7.5%
Taiwan
1.3%
16.2%
Australia
6.1%
Thailand
1.2%
Italy
8.6%
Japan
6.0%
Indonesia
1.1%
Spain
7.9%
South Korea
2.4%
Vietnam
1.0%
The Netherlands
4.9%
Hong Kong
1.9%
Israel
0.5%
Others
21.8%
Turkey
1.9%
Japan
0.4%
Total
100%
Belgium
Sweden
Poland
Austria
Denmark
Ireland
Finland
Portugal
Greece
Russia
Germany
Canada
1.8%
Malaysia
0.3%
2.9 %
2.8 %
2.4 %
2.2 %
1.9 %
1.7 %
1.5 %
1.5 %
1.4 %
PL 2.8%
DK 2.4%
PL 1.9%
DE 15.9%
ES 7.0%
IT 10.5%
GR 1.9%
In 2009, other countries included: Austria: 1.7%, Sweden: 1.6%, Czech Republic: 1.3%, Ireland: 0.9%, Romania: 0.7%, Portugal: 0.5%, Finland: 0.5%, Hungary: 0.4%, Slovakia: 0.4%, Bulgaria: 0.3%, Cyprus: 0.2%, Slovenia: 0.2%, Lithuania: 0.1%, Estonia: 0.1%, Malta: 0.1%, Latvia: 0.1%, Luxembourg: 0%.
Direct imports include finished products and spare parts that may be re-exported to
other EU27 countries. The above figures do not include video games.