NPD: U.S. Toy Industry Retail Sales Up 1 Percent Through April

The following article is based on a press release issued by The NPD Group on June 14, 2022.

June 14, 2022 | U.S. toy industry dollar sales increased 1 percent or $63 million between January and April 2022, according to The NPD Group.

Five of the 11 supercategories tracked by NPD posted growth versus 2021 with seven supercategories posting a positive three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Outdoor & Sports Toys continued to be the largest supercategory with $1.3 billion in sales. Plush had the largest dollar gain of $223 million and the fastest dollar growth of 43%. Looking at compound annual growth rates compared to 2019, Explorative & Other Toys had the fastest growth of 26% followed by Plush at 22%. 

“While the U.S. toy industry dollar growth slowed to 1% YTD April, this was on top of unprecedented dollar growth of 28% in the same period last year with two stimulus checks lining the pockets of some consumers,” said Juli Lennett, U.S. Toy Industry Advisor, “the decline in units was not unexpected. The strong increase in average selling prices for the third year in a row was unexpected and drove the growth over last year.”

Plush had the largest dollar gain, with Squishmallows, Magic Mixies, and Disney All Other as the main drivers of growth. Squishmallows had eight of the top 15 selling toys for the total toy industry. Explorative & Other Toys grew 36% with NBA and NFL dominated the growth in the category. Highlighting a return to pre-pandemic sales trends, Action Figures & Accessories also grew double-digits

Rounding out the top ten properties were Pokémon, Squishmallows, Star Wars, Marvel Universe, Barbie, Fisher-Price, L.O.L. Surprise!, Hot Wheels, LEGO Star Wars, and Funko POP! Collectively, these 10 properties grew 15 percent while the rest of the market declined .5 percent from January to April 2022.

*Source: The NPD Group/ Retail Tracking Service, January-April 2022