Birth Rates Are Falling — So Why Is This Product Category Growing Against the Tide?
By Levich Toys Experts Team2026-09-234 minutes
Across global markets, the baby and preschool toy category has been unavoidably shrinking as a share of total toy sales. In the UK — one of Europe's major toy markets — the category has now entered a period of stabilization after a decade of decline. While its overall share is markedly lower than ten years ago, certain subcategories, brands, and licensed IPs continue to show strong growth momentum.
Market Overview: Stabilizing After a Decade of Decline
Back in 2015, baby and preschool toys accounted for 20% of total toy sales in the UK. By 2025, that share had fallen to approximately 14.5% — a drop of more than five percentage points over ten years. Encouragingly, the decline has now begun to level off.
Circana's UK data for 2025 shows baby and preschool toy sales growing 2% year-over-year; so far in 2026, the category is roughly flat. While this still lags well behind the overall toy market's 12% growth rate, it signals that the category is stabilizing after years of contraction.
Key Insights: Clear Divergence Within Subcategories
Although the overall downtrend has flattened, performance differs significantly between the two main segments:
-
Baby toys (0–3 years): Sales grew 3% year-to-date in 2026 and 5% in 2025.
-
Preschool toys (3–6 years): Sales declined 3% and 2% respectively over the same periods.
Within baby toys, VTech Baby and Fisher-Price rank as the top two brands, together capturing roughly a quarter of the segment's sales. Both performed well in 2026, helping drive the overall market upward.
Other growing brands include two core brands under the US baby products giant Kids2 — Baby Einstein and Bright Starts — as well as licensed products featuring the Australian preschool IP, Bluey.
Bluey stands out in particular: the IP grew 55% in 2025 and is already up 25% so far in 2026. Even VTech Baby's two best-selling individual products in the UK are Bluey-licensed items from the Toot-Toot Drivers line — the Toot Toot Bluey Road Trip Playset and the Toot Toot Drivers Bluey Escape Convertible — both ranking among the top ten toys in the entire UK market.
High-Potential Categories: Interactive Voice and Educational Toys Lead
Preschool toys face overall pressure, but bright spots remain. The standout subcategory is Talking & Sound products, with sales up an impressive 27% year-to-date. It is now the second-largest preschool subcategory, accounting for 17% of all preschool toy sales — up from less than 10% just three years ago in 2023.
The driving force behind this growth is the Toniebox audio system. The Tonies brand alone now represents roughly 15% of all preschool toy sales, with its rich catalog of licensed content fueling the surge. The top three IPs on Tonies this year are PAW Patrol, Peppa Pig, and Toy Story/Buzz Lightyear — another clear example of licensed content driving category sales.
Additionally, Electronic Learning (educational toys) performed strongly, growing 22%. The top two individual products both come from VTech: first is LeapFrog's LeapMove active learning console, and second is the Toy Story 5 Little-Hop learning tablet.
The overall UK toy market is showing clear growth momentum. If the baby and preschool category delivers a strong performance during the year-end Christmas peak season, the stabilization trend could be further reinforced.