The toy industry ushered in the dual drive of "smart green", and the domestic market showed three growth poles

The latest "China Toy White Paper 2025" shows that although toy exports fell by 3.2% year-on-year in 2024, the domestic market showed strong resilience, and the total retail sales exceeded 97.8 billion yuan for the first time, an increase of 7.9% year-on-year. Among them, the performance of three sub-sectors was particularly outstanding:

Educational toys grew against the trend: Affected by the penetration of AI technology, the retail sales of smart toys equipped with voice interaction functions surged by 58%, and the "AI learning partner" launched by a brand in Shenzhen sold more than 100,000 units in half a year, driving the industry's average unit price to increase by 22%.

Collection toys broke through the circle: Blind boxes, mecha models and other categories, driven by the consumption power of Generation Z, saw a year-on-year sales increase of 34%, and the sales per square meter of offline stores in first-tier cities reached 32,000 yuan, 180% higher than traditional toy stores.

Environmental certification has become a new threshold: The European Union, Indonesia and other places have successively upgraded toy environmental protection standards. 83% of export companies in Zhejiang Province have been equipped with harmful substance detectors, and the export volume of "green toys" using soybean ink and degradable plastics has increased by 21% year-on-year.

In terms of technological innovation, emotional computing technology is reshaping the industry ecosystem. The "emotion-sensing toys" developed by a leading manufacturer can adjust the interaction mode through micro-expression recognition, and its repurchase rate is as high as 47%. In the field of environmental protection, the "recycled plastic + rice husk fiber" composite board developed by a Dongguan company reduced production costs by 15% and carbon emissions by 38%. As the head of the China Toy Association said: "The future toy competition will be a dual contest of technological innovation and green sustainability."