Where do EU toys come from?

The holiday season is here, and toy shopping might be a crucial item on that to-do list.  

In 2023, the EU was a net importer of toys from the rest of the world, with €6.5 billion worth of toys imported from extra-EU countries (-€2.0 billion compared with 2022), while Extra-EU exports totaled €2.3 billion (-€0.2 billion). 

China was the biggest supplier of toys to the EU with 80% (worth €5.2 billion) of toy imports, far ahead of Vietnam with 6% (€367 million) and the United Kingdom (2%, €150 million). 

Around a fifth of EU imports of toys went to Germany (18%), while France and the Netherlands accounted for 16% and 14%, respectively.

Source dataset: ds-018995

United Kingdom top export destination

Data show that 3 EU countries accounted for more than half of extra-EU exports by value. The main extra-EU export destination was the United Kingdom (30%, €694 million), followed by Switzerland (13%, €301 million) and the United States (10%, €233 million). 

More than half of the toys exported from the EU to the rest of the world were exported by Czechia (29%), Germany (19%) and Belgium (8%).