The Evolution of the Toy Industry

Some numbers caught my eye recently. The UK toy market grew last year for the first time in five years, reaching £3.9 billion (Circana). After a genuinely tough few years for brands and retailers alike, that is encouraging news. But the headline is not the real story.

Look underneath and the market is evolving. Toys for children grew by 4%, solid and welcome. The fastest growth came from adults buying toys for themselves: up 10%, and now £1 in every £3 we spend on toys. The industry calls them kidults, and they are no longer a niche. They are a third of the market, and they are changing what a toy is for: nostalgia, collecting and a way to switch off in a noisy world.

So what to do about it? Three things. Know exactly which part of the market your products live in, because a rising headline does not mean your category is rising. Look again at assumptions built purely around parents and gifting: packaging, merchandising, where and how you sell. And remember toys are only one part of the maternity, baby and children's product industry; the picture is not the same everywhere. That is exactly what The Nest is here for: what is happening in our industry, and what to do about it.

Source: Circana, UK Toy Market, 2025.

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