The Romanian toy and games market is to register a growth of almost 44% this year, exceeding EUR 230 million in value, according to a study by marketing agency Perceptum, cited by local Agerpres.

Romania’s toy market is third in the region, after those in Poland and Hungary, representing 1.5% of the total European market.

Last year, the toy market exceeded revenues of EUR 160 million, with a significant advance in online commerce. According to Perceptum, the market will continue the upward trend in 2018, but will register a slight decline in 2019, which will deepen in 2020.

In the next three years, the segment that will register the most spectacular growth of about 80% will be the Lego toys, although its market share will remain low, of only 1.16%. Various toys (those for babies and the dynamic toys such as kites, hula hoops, frisbees, and watches) will continue to the have the highest share, of 63.7%, followed by toy vehicles and weapons with 16.5%, and figurines and stuffed toys with 15.6%.

The study also reveals that more than 90% of the games and toys sold in Romania are imported, and domestic producers face a highly competitive local market. Another specific feature of the domestic toy market is that Romanians prefer to buy patented toys such as Disney, Batman or Spiderman ones.

Romania has more than 130 companies operating on the traditional toys and games market, with more than 2,500 employees in total. The top six retailers on the local toy market registered a combined turnover of some EUR 110 million in 2015, almost double compared to 2014.

This year, the traditional toys market in the EU will amount to EUR 25 billion. The European countries with the highest revenues on this market are the UK, with estimated revenues of EUR 5.7 billion, followed by Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com