The Bavarian State Office of Statistics published these days that 98000 tons of toys were imported in 2020 to Bavaria. Its amount in money was about 1,9 Billion €, which is 1.1% of all imports. Nevertheless, Bavaria exported toys, too, in an amount of 800 Mill. €, which related to 0.5% of all Bavarian exports. About 34.9% of all German toy imports ended up in Bavaria, the federal state with the second largest population of 13.14 Mill. people, almost 16% related to German inhabitants. Obviously, the import ratio was overproportionate.

Interesting to see the rising amount of imports towards Christmas time. Having the lowest amount in February to June, starting to double until November. Considering that due to Christmas Days the December is shortened by about 20%, we can estimate that December is a strong month, too. The January is usually used to exchange the money presents and vouchers under the Christmas Tree into goods.

The IT.NRW investigated the costs for the toys compared with the total consumer prices in 2021. It can be seen that the consumer prices had risen in a continuous manner, probably because the consumption of daily products is more or less constant over time, too. But it is interesting to see the old known economic correlation between supply and demand when looking at the toy market. Did you also feel this year that the news about a potential lack of toys for Christmas was with a bit of drama? We will see in the coming months whether it was justified and really some areas of the sales racks became or remained empty. In my mind, we did not suffer from quantities, but we suffered from the purchase price point of view. The correlation between the two graphs shows that in the time of low sales the products got cheaper by about 4%, but just in time for Christmas shopping, there we are at a plus of 4%. So there was a dynamic of 8% over the year. Sure, also 2021 was due to the pandemic an irregular year. Nevertheless, within Christmas time, some shops probably achieved profit.

Also interesting to see, where the Bavarian imports of the toys came from. Almost ¾ of imports were from the EU, 17.6% from China and 5.3% from the UK. Czechia and Poland had been the biggest importers. If you have ever visited Malta, you may be surprised that 6.8%, so 129 Mill. € were imported from that little island. It is somehow owed to Playmobil, which has a facility over there. When you have that little figure of Playmobil in your hand, it is quite sure it traveled from Malta into your home.

Imports of toys to Bavaria 2020 by country in percent

The Christmas tree informs which kind of toys had been imported to Bavaria. Please, feel invited to check below, whether your favorite toys may be mainly imported or not.

Could you imagine that one of the smallest members of the EU has such a big share in toy exports? Could you find your favorite toy in our Christmas tree? Please feel free to leave your comments.