A toy store at the Claye-Souilly Shopping Center, in the north-eastern Paris suburbs, on October 17, 2025. JPL/REA
Will adults find toys waiting for them under the Christmas tree? That is the bet that retailers have been making as the toy market undergoes a major transformation. New trends include adult-targeted catalogs, "fan zones" inside toy stores, €850 Lego sets, and more. Teenagers and adults, classified as toy consumers over the age of 12 – dubbed "kidults" by industry professionals – have emerged as one of the main drivers behind the toy market's robust growth in 2025.
While overall household spending has been paralyzed by economic and tax uncertainty, the toy market rose in value by 9% between January and mid-November, according to the research firm Circana. "An impressive growth," said Frédérique Tutt, Circana's global toy industry expert, noting that the market usually annually fluctuates between a 2% increase and a similar decline, as was the case in 2024, when toy sales fell by 0.7% to a total of €4.3 billion.
This growth – which had not "been seen in 25 years," according to Jacques Baudoz, CEO of the JouéClub group (which includes the JouéClub and La Grande Récré toy stores) – has, according to Circana, been driven by toy sales to consumers over 12, which have risen by 22%. These "kidults," a new, older clientele that first entered the toy market by buying puzzles and coloring books for adults during the Covid-19 pandemic, accounted for 36% of toy sales in France over the first nine months of the year.
