Data shows an average spend of £159 on newborn toys, and a further £208 in a baby’s second year.

With the imminent arrival of another royal baby, The NPD Group has offered some insights into the market for toys for newborns. The United Kingdom is the fourth largest toy market in the world and has the highest per capita spend in Europe. British consumers spent £3.3b on toys in 2018, buying 371m items.

In the UK, an average of £159 is spent on a newborn’s toys such as play mats, gyms, infant plush, rattles, teethers and soft toys in their first year. As babies grow, toys and play become a crucial part of discovery and learning. Therefore, in a baby’s second year, the average toy spend rises to £208; by a baby’s second birthday, the total average amount spent on toys is £367.

For more than half of toys bought for a newborn, parents and gift givers were primarily influenced by a promotion or discount, and this factor was a secondary influence for 29%, even though the average price spent on those toys is only £11.15. VTech’s First Steps Baby Walker, the best-selling Infant/Toddler toy, retails for approximately £24, and Fisher-Price’s Laugh & Learn Smart Stages First Words Puppy, the best new toy in the category, is selling at approximately £15.

In the first year, parents account for 39% of the overall spend on toys for baby, and grandparents for 30%. Parents buy more than one-third (36%) of their baby toys online, while grandparents prefer to shop in-store.

Frederique Tutt, global industry analyst, Toys, NPD says: “Toys and play are synonymous with key milestones in early learning, from lying down and discovering the world to sitting stages, crawling, walking and talking so there’s a significant focus on development and learning in the top 10 best-selling baby and toddler toys.”