To monitor what’s happening in the ever-changing toy market, Circana collects point-of-sale information from all major toy retailers. This information, combined with our analysts’ industry perspectives, delivers a comprehensive view of what’s selling and where. We also field over 12m consumer surveys annually to help industry leaders understand why consumers shop where they shop and why they buy what they buy. For more information visit www.circana.com.
Insight
Licensed
toys in pole position
Melissa Symonds
Licensed Toys are having a very strong year, outperforming the rest of the toy market - a trend which is expected to continue. Melissa delves deeper into this success and looks in more detail at the power of licences.
T
he UK Toy market has enjoyed a strong first quarter in 2025, with value sales up +5%, the first growth in Q1 since 2021. Overall, seven out of eleven supercategories are in growth with Games and Puzzles leading the way, up an impressive +39% driven by two new Pokémon Strategic Trading Card game series. However, there is one area of the toy market that has continually outperformed the rest of the market over the last five years – licensed toys. Licensed toys has grown +9% so far this year and now account for 35% of all toy sales.
Director UK Toys, EuroToys, Circana
few years and continue to grow, up +56% in 2025. However, the fastest growing licence so far in 2025 is Formula 1, with the new range of Lego sets driving sales. Later this summer there will be a Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which should see the licence have a strong finish to the year. The fastestShare growing last Licensed bylicence Supercategory Ranked by value share year was Lilo & Stitch, which continues to increase in 2025 as the second fastest growing property YTD March. Other growing licences include Hello Kitty and Friends, celebrating 50 years in 2025, as well Fortnite and Mr Beast. This demonstrates the broad range of sources for successful
Cars the Movie and Fast & Furious driving licensed growth in Vehicles. In Plush, besides the aforementioned Snackles and Lilo & Stitch, Paddington Bear and Care Bears have seen strong growth this year.
While licensing is an important part of the UK Toy market, toys is not the only industry in which licensing is growing. As well as Toys, Circana also tracks Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and licensing has been increasing its presence in the food, drink and health and beauty aisles over the last 12 months. Overall, Chilled Diary and Desserts is the largest licensed category with licensed yoghurts particularly strong. This is followed by Bakery with licensed birthday or celebration cakes such as Spider-Man Licensed Share by Supercategory and Pokémon, and Home Baking with Ranked by value share Cake Mixes. However, some of the fastest Value % Share % Change vs. 2024 growing licensed categories are Vitamins Total Toys 35% 9% and Minerals and Biscuits; both are Action Figures & Acc 83% 16% showing strong double-digit growth in Building Sets 55% 7% Vehicles 47% the latest 52 weeks. This expansion of 16% Explorative & Other Toys 43% 15% licensing into the CPG category enables Plush 32% 16% consumers to truly surround themselves Dolls 27% 0% with their passion for favourite Infant/Toddler/Preschool Toys 25% -6% Arts & Crafts 21% 95% characters, and expands to categories Youth Electronics 21% 52% such as Clothing, Books, Stationery and Games/Puzzles 15% -3% many other areas. Outdoor & Sports Toys 7% -39% Value % Share
Total Toys
9%
83%
Building Sets
16%
55%
Vehicles
7%
47%
Explorative & Other Toys
16%
43%
Plush
15%
32%
16%
Dolls
27%
0%
Infant/Toddler/Preschool Toys
25%
-6%
Arts & Crafts
21%
95%
The biggest licence is Star Wars, with strong support from the Lego range. However, the second largest licence is the combined National Soccer Clubs, with Match Attax lines continuing to perform well even outside of international football tournaments. Next is Harry Potter, which has seen a strong start to 2025, up +27% in value, followed by Minecraft and Bluey. Bluey has also seen strong growth, up +26% so far this year and is now the number two property in Pre-school Toys, behind Paw Patrol. Amongst the top five, there are licences originating from a mixture of sources. Besides the traditional film and TV/streaming properties, the toy market has seen more licences coming from Video Games, Sports and even Food in recent years - as demonstrated by the success of Zuru’s Snackles range.
licences in toys: ranging from nostalgic characters, popular video game and online influencers as well as sports and film franchises.
Some of the most successful properties mix content sourcing, so they’re no longer purely defined by one type. The recent Minecraft movie saw toy sales in the opening week of the film grow +113% versus the same week a year ago, and even before the film release, Minecraft toy sales were strong. Sonic the Hedgehog is another example of a property which now spans movies, streaming shows and video games, and has seen its toy sales grow over the last
Within the total market, the Action Figures & Accessories Supercategory has the largest licensed share, with licences accounting for 83% of sales in Q1 and growing +16% in value. Top licences here include Marvel Universe, Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Wars and Pokémon. Building Sets has 55% of sales coming from licences, with Star Wars and Harry Potter topping the charts. There is strong licensed growth from Vehicles, Explorative & Other and Plush Toys, with
Document classification: NPD Internal Only
% Change vs. 2024
35%
Action Figures & Acc
Youth Electronics
21%
Games/Puzzles
Outdoor & Sports Toys
52%
15%
-3%
7%
-39%
Source: Circana, Retail Tracking Service, UK, YTD Mar’25
Circana, Inc. and Circana Group, L.P. | Proprietary and confidential
1
Document classification: NPD Internal Only
We expect licensing to continue to outperform the rest of the toy market in 2025, gaining share with plenty of potential for both new and returning content driven lines. This ranges from the hotly anticipated final series of Stranger Things on Netflix to summer blockbuster movies - from action films like Jurassic World, Fantastic Four and Superman to family friendly releases like Lilo & Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon. Add in Sports and Influencer licences, and it’s clear that licensing will continue to be an important part of the UK Toy and CPG markets.
Source: Circana, Retail Tracking Service, UK, YTD Mar’25 Circana, Inc. and Circana Group, L.P. | Proprietary and confidential
Toy World 28
1
