Very good 2011 for toy manufacturers in Europe. - The toy market in Europe has resisted the crisis well, according to a study by NPD Euro Toys. Toy sales particularly received a boost during the pre-Christmas period. After nine months of rising sales, sales suddenly fell by 4% in November, before bouncing back by 9% in December. The toy market in Europe therefore continues to demonstrate fairly good resistance to worsening economic conditions and achieved estimated growth of +2% in 2011, compared to 2010. Data reveals, however, significant disparities according to the European countries examined. Germany has the strongest performance in Europe with 7% growth, followed by France, with 5% growth compared to 2010 levels. The United Kingdom remains the number one toy market in Europe but only managed to reach growth levels of around 2.5%. Results were rather disappointing with regard to 2010, given that the British market experienced strong growth of 6% that year. Finally, despite the last-minute good tidings, NPD reports falling sales compared to 2010 by 3% in Italy and 7% in Spain. The Spanish market experienced a fall in sales of 0.7% in 2010. Despite economic uncertainties, consumers are not necessarily shifting to less expensive toys but they are more inclined to attempt to identify best price products. According to NPD, toy sales have not ceased to increase during seasonal sales periods on the European market. Consumer purchasing behaviour is smarter and bargain purchasing has beaten all records. During the first nine months of the year, NPD Euro Toys illustrates that the sale of toys during “the sales” increased by 5% compared to levels in 2010 during the same period. Promotional sales developments mainly come from the Internet: in Europe, purchases during promotional sales on the Internet grew by 34% over the first nine months of 2011, although no progress over the same period was identified in purchases made in shops. The study also demonstrates that toy sales become much more orientated to the family unit and the crisis means that purchasers are more likely to buy for their immediate family, either children or grandchildren only. Therefore, in 2011 friends and neighbours considerably reduced their toy purchases everywhere in Europe. NPD points out, for example, that in this group of consumers there was a 22% fall in the value of toy sales between January and September 2011 compared to the previous year. On the other hand, toy purchases carried out by grandparents grew in value by 3% over the same period compared to 2011. (IL/trans/fl)