Margaux Fodéré, edited by Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP 6:16 a.m., January 20, 2024

After the “Baby Boom”, here is the “Baby Crash”.

France has never had so few babies since the Second World War as in 2023. A phenomenon which worries the executive, because it could have consequences on the financing of the French social model.

But other sectors are suffering from this drop in the birth rate, such as the toy market. 

The year 2023 has not been good for the toy market in France.

According to panelist Circana, it fell by 5.2% over the past year.

A decline more marked than what players in the sector expected.

A decline that we owe, at least in part, to the drop in the birth rate in France. 

To boost sales, capitalize on adults

For Frédérique Tutt, toy expert at Circana, you just have to look at the sales of products aimed at children and the youngest: "Sales of the core target for us, 0-11 year olds, have fallen. Which means that "In total, it cost us 60 million euros in turnover, just for the year 2023."

To try to revive sales, manufacturers and distributors want to capitalize on French customers who are already customers. 

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But they also rely on games aimed at adults.

“We call this segment the ‘kidult’ segment, which has been growing uninterruptedly for several years,” explains Christophe Drevet, general director of the French Federation of Toy and Childcare Industries.

The sale of board games, puzzles, but also creative leisure and toys now represent almost a third of the market: “So it’s a real growth driver”. 

In addition, the Federation also addresses its proposals to public authorities to support the purchasing power of young parents.

In particular by proposing a reduction in VAT to 5.5% on compulsory products for the safety of children, such as car seats.