Lego said it could be benefiting from parents’ desire to keep children – and themselves – away from smartphones as sales rose 12%, helped by strong sales of its Botanicals and Formula One grand prix-themed sets.
The Danish toy company said sales increased to a record 34.6bn Danish kroner (£4bn) in the first half of the year, rising well ahead of the recovering global toy market in which sales rose 7%.
Niels B Christiansen, chief executive, said Lego could be profiting from parents’ desire to keep children away from phones because of the effect of social media on mental health.
Lego’s strong sales come as Yoto, the UK-based creator of screen-free speakers for children, almost doubled its sales last year to £94.8m and said it expects to reach a profit for the first time in 2025, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Research from the audience research company GWI found that social media addiction ranked among parents’ top three fears for their children from a list that included the climate crisis and war.
Christiansen said: “We see ourselves as competing for children’s time. The most important thing is to provide relevant and exciting experiences, and that could keep them away from smartphones.”
The Lego boss has previously said the company is developing digital games and tying up with more teen-friendly brands such as the sportswear brand Nike as it competes with social media to keep tweens interested.
Lego said net profit increased 10% to 6.5bn kroner, with the company signing deals to produce toys linked to the Bluey and Pokémon cartoon series and launching the She Built That campaign to encourage girls to use Lego creatively. The company has seen success with its Botanicals range of plant-inspired building sets for adults, especially for Valentine’s Day and Easter.
Christiansen said: “We are very pleased to have maintained our strong performance in the first half of 2025, winning share in the global toy market. This growth is driven by our large and innovative range of products that continues to be relevant across ages and interests.”
He said sales were now growing again in China, after a tough start to 2024, and expected worldwide sales to continue to rise by about 9% in the second half of the year amid “strong consumer demand”.
Christiansen said Lego was paying some tariffs on the import of goods from its factory in Mexico, which supplies the US, but some items had escaped the taxes as result of a deal between the two countries.
He said the group was benefiting from having manufacturing facilities “as close to markets as possible” so that it could produce only what was needed and keep stocks tight. The company said tariffs had so far had no impact on its prices in the US and it had “no plans” to put up the prices of its toys there this year.
The brand is on track to open a $1.5bn (£1.1bn) US factory and distribution centre in 2027, its seventh factory worldwide. The company previously said it was not bringing forward the development of the factory despite new import tariffs introduced by the Trump administration this year.
The group opened a new site in Vietnam this year and expanded factories in Mexico and Hungary to meet demand.
Lego said it was also on track to reach its full-year target of 60% of bought materials to be produced with sustainable sources.
As part of this effort, Lego is to make some of its toy tyres from a material derived from recycled fishing nets, ropes and engine oil. The company is also introducing e-methanol, a material made from mixing renewable energy and CO2 from biowaste, to create rigid Lego elements such as wheel axles and minifigure hands.
