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Passed are the times of writing Christmas lists by hand. With the internet enabled on apparently every gadget, kids only require taking to Google to track down the exact URL of their wished toy in time for Santa’s visit — and let’s be honest, they are likely better at it than adults.
Toys aren’t just for children, though: one analysis discovered that 58 percent of adults in the United States had bought a toy for themselves. And whether those adults are battling it out on a console or zooming around the neighborhood on a scooter (does anybody else’s back ache thinking about it?), one thing’s for sure: play is good for us.
No matter your age, one toy may have a very peculiar place in your heart. But which toys, in specific, are the most popular in every nation?
The TheToyZone team repeated his study of the last year and analyzed Google Search volumes to track down the exact toy that every country searches for the most online, to map the most uniquely popular toy in 161 nations in 2022.
The TheToyZone team began with a seed list of toys and using the Ahrefs Keywords Explorer tool. They calculated how many times each one was googled per month on average in 161 countries. To find each country’s most uniquely popular toy, the team used a ‘location quotient’ method to decide how much more popular a toy is locally than globally. Below are these resulting maps.
Key Findings
4 of the top 5 most-searched-for toys in the world are video game consoles, and of those, the PS5, gets the most monthly searches on average (15 million).
The only non-console toy among the 5 most searched is Lego, which is searched globally over 6million times a month on average.
Counting 1.35 million searches on average per month, the most searched-for board game globally is Ludo.
Barbie is the most uniquely popular toy in 32 nations — more than any other toy.
The Most Favorite Toy by Country
Four of the top five most searched-for toys in the world are…. Consoles, with PS5 leading the way with a whopping 15 million searches per month globally.
That’s almost 50% more searches than its closest pursuant – Nintendo Switch, which amassed 10,700,000 monthly searches worldwide.
Xbox Series X attracts about 6.5 million monthly searches, while its Series S counterpart is in 5th most searched spot with 3.01 million searches per month.
The only non-console toy among the five most searched is Lego. With 6,090,000 monthly searches globally, this world-famous construction toy finds itself in the fourth spot.
Another world-famous toy – Barbie, still has its fans with 2.7 million monthly searches. The only board game entry on the top 10 list is Ludo, with 1,350,000 searches per month globally.
North America
Bratz toys are the most beloved in 4 North-American nations, while the quintessential American Lincoln Logs are the most uniquely popular toys in the United States. Invented in 1916, these playsets comprise wooden blocks designed to fit together to create miniature cabins.
South America
While Barbie is the most uniquely popular toy in 5 countries in South America, according to our Google search volume analysis, she’s not the only beloved doll on the continent: L.O.L. Surprise and Funko POP are the most popular toys in Brazil and Chile, respectively. L.O.L. Surprise dolls became a success for the manufacturer MGA Entertainment Inc. back in 2016, while Funko’s pop culture figurines have been must-have collectibles since 2011.
Europe
By analyzing Google search volumes, our data reveal that Playmobil and Geomag are the most uniquely popular toys in 4 countries, each in Europe. While both of these toys are building sets, Geomag sets itself apart by using magnets to hold together structures. Both brands also originated in Europe: Playmobil was invented in 1974 by a German inventor, while Geomag has roots in Italy and Switzerland.
Middle East and Central Asia
Continuing her world domination, Barbie is the most uniquely popular toy in 4 countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, according to our Google search volume analysis. Meanwhile, in 3 countries, the classic board game, the Game of Life, is the most favored toy. First created in 1860, this popular board game sees players guide their token from childhood to retirement, stopping at various life milestones (like having kids) along the way.
Africa
Since the Barbie doll’s debut in 1959, more than a billion dolls have been sold around the world, according to Forbes. According to our Google search volume analysis, her enduring popularity is apparent in Africa, where Barbie is the most uniquely popular toy in 17 nations on the continent. Proving that she’s much more than just a doll, Barbie has also starred in dozens of movies and has become a social media influencer in recent years.
Asia and Oceania
By analyzing Google search volumes, we found that Barbie, Ludo, and Nanoblock are among the most popular toys in the rest of Asia and Oceania. While Barbie and Ludo have been around for decades, Nanoblock hit the market for the first time in 2008 and is now the most uniquely popular toy in 3 countries on our map. Nanoblock is analogous to Lego but features much smaller block pieces, with the tiniest block measuring just 4mm x 4mm x 5mm.
Consoles may dominate the search volume game, but in terms of being of most interest to the most significant number of countries, they are no match for Barbie.
This doll, which was initially released in the 50s, is the popular favorite in 32 countries, mainly in Africa and South America.
Ludo claims 13 countries as their favorite toy, mainly in Asia and Africa.
Other toys which have most countries to their name are The Game of Life (10), Monopoly (9), Bratz (8), Yoyo (7), and Rubik’s Cube (6).
The World’s Favorite Toys by Category
Among Building & Construction toys, Lego is favored by 57 countries. Playmobil is top in 13 countries, while magnetic toys like Neodymium and Geomag attracted the most interest in 13 and 11 countries, respectively.
Spiderman rules the Superhero category, with 24 countries picking it as a favorite in searches, by far more than any other superhero toys.
Paw Patrol is the most popular Toy from TV, with 19 countries having it as their favorite, with Transformers toys in second place by that metric, as being preferred by 13 countries.
In terms of 90s toys, it’s a two-way tie, as Polly Pocket and Game Boy have 24 countries that are most distinctly popular. Another icon of the 90s – Tamagotchi – claimed 13 countries as the toy with the most local search interest.
Classic Toys
From complex puzzle games like the Rubik’s Cube to much simpler joys like Play-Doh, some classic toys never go out of style. The Google search volume analysis reveals that Barbie takes the crown as the most uniquely popular in 54 countries. Barbie’s popularity has seen her hit the shelves in 150 countries, and according to the Barbie website, over 100 of these 11.5-inch-tall dolls are sold every minute.
Dolls
Dolls have been around for millennia, and though materials have moved from clay and bone to plastic, they’re still one of the best-selling categories of toys on the U.S. market, according to the NPD Group. As the most uniquely popular doll in 75 nations, our Google search volume analysis reveals that Barbie still dominates the doll world, despite competition from the likes of L.O.L. Surprise, Funko Pops, and Disney Princess dolls.
Board Games
Board games have been bringing together families and starting arguments among them for thousands of years, and some of those ancient games still exist today. We analyzed Google search volumes and found that Ludo is the most uniquely popular board game in 29 nations. Ludo is based on the ancient Indian game of Pachisi and was first patented as the game we know and love today in 1896.
Video Game Consoles
The release of the first home video game console in 1972 ushered in a new age of gaming for kids and adults alike. Nowadays, one in two households in the U.S. has at least one game console, according to a Consumer Technology Association report. While StatCounter data reveals that gaming giants Playstation and Xbox dominate the market in America, we found that Nintendo Switch is the most uniquely popular console in 69 countries, based on Google search volumes.
Building and Construction Toys
Whether you’re a kid or an adult, building with blocks is not just a fun activity, but it has lots of health benefits as well, like helping to develop fine motor skills and reducing stress and anxiety. Having come a long way since the brand’s beginnings in Denmark, our Google search volume analysis shows that Lego is the most uniquely famous brand of building and construction toys in 57 countries.
Superhero Toys
While superheroes were once confined to the pages of colorful comic books, the Marvel and DC universes now dominate TV and movie screens worldwide, to the delight of kids and adults alike. Regarding toys, Spiderman is the clear favorite: according to Google search volumes, he’s the most uniquely popular superhero toy in 24 countries. The likes of Batman, Superman, and Captain America also appear on our map.
TV Toys
Toys are often a lucrative part of a TV show’s merchandise, and sometimes shows have been created specifically to boost sales of existing toys (looking at you. Transformers). Our Google search volume analysis reveals that PAW Patrol is the most uniquely famous TV toy brand in 19 countries, but other popular TV show toys worldwide include Ben 10 and Power Rangers.
90s Toys
If you’re a millennial, toys of the 1990s will no doubt hold a special place in your heart, and many of those same toys might still be in production and delighting a new generation of kids today. Our Google search volume analysis reveals that Game Boy and Polly Pocket, both launched in 1989, are the most uniquely popular ’90s toys in 24 countries each.
Methodology
The TheToyZone team first gathered a list of toys from categories outlined by the Toy Association and Wikipedia, then cross-referenced them with favored toy round-ups such as this VeryWellFamily article. Using Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, the team then found the average monthly number of Google searches over 12 months made for each toy in every nation.
Toys were considered the most uniquely popular in a particular country using a method similar to the location quotient (an estimate of how much more popular the toy is locally than globally). For instance, Playmobil had a 13.6 percent share of Greece’s search volume for all toys — a % 7.81 times higher than the 1.74 percent search volume Playmobil had among all the toys worldwide. Playmobil’s location quotient was, therefore, 7.81, and as that figure is the highest of all toys searched in Greece, it was considered Greece’s most uniquely popular toy.
For our world and continent maps of each nation’s favorite toy overall, toys with fewer than 100 monthly searches in a country were excluded. For creating the world map of favorite toys by category, toys with fewer than 50 monthly searches in a nation were eliminated. For the category map of consoles, any consoles older than 6 years were excluded from our list.
