How LEGO Built More Ways To Grow

Introduction

LEGO’s portfolio breadth acts like shock absorption because the company is no longer relying on one narrow version of “toy demand”. Its growth now comes from several overlapping markets at once: children’s play, adult collecting, gifts, licensed entertainment properties, homegrown themes, digital-linked sets and a widening retail network. That matters for antifragility because a shock in one part of the market does not automatically become a shock to the whole business. When birth rates fall, adults and older fans can matter more. When one franchise cools, evergreen themes such as City or Technic can keep selling. When physical retail changes, LEGO.com, branded stores, retail partners and experience-led venues give the company more routes to the customer.

The evidence is visible in LEGO’s recent results. In 2023, the company said it grew despite “the most negative toy market in more than 15 years”, crediting the appeal of a strong, diverse portfolio and the LEGO System in Play. In 2024, revenue rose 13% to DKK 74.3 billion while the toy market declined by 1%, and LEGO said its best-selling themes mixed homegrown and entertainment intellectual property. In 2025, revenue rose again to DKK 83.5 billion, with demand high among both children and adults. [LEGO]lego.comlego delivered topline growth and outpaced market in 2023lego delivered topline growth and outpaced market in 2023 [LEGO]lego.comlego group delivers record results in 2024lego group delivers record results in 2024

Why Audience Diversity Matters

The most important shift is that LEGO can now grow through more than one kind of buyer. A preschool child building with DUPLO, a seven-year-old playing with City, a teenager buying a Formula 1 car, an adult building Botanicals as home decor, and a Star Wars fan buying a display model are all different demand pools. They do not move perfectly together. That makes the portfolio less fragile than a business tied mainly to young children’s toy cycles.

This is especially relevant because the wider toy market has been under pressure from falling birth rates, inflation and competition from screens. Circana’s 2024 global toy-market data across 12 major markets found that overall toy sales declined by 0.6%, but building sets grew 14% and were the strongest supercategory by both sales and growth. That is a useful external clue: LEGO’s core format sits in one of the healthier areas of toys, while its adult and fan-led ranges help it reach beyond the traditional child-only toy aisle. [Circana]circana.comOpen source on circana.com.

LEGO’s own reporting shows this audience spread becoming more explicit. In 2023, it had 780 products, around half of them new, for “fans of all ages and interests”; in 2024, the portfolio grew to 840 products; in 2025, it exceeded 860 products, again with around half new. The most popular 2025 themes included City, Technic, Star Wars, Icons and Botanicals — a list that cuts across children’s play, engineering-style building, licensed fandom, adult display and giftable lifestyle products. [LEGO]lego.comOpen source on lego.com. [LEGO]lego.comthe lego group achieves double digit top and bottom line growth in h1 2025the lego group achieves double digit top and bottom line growth in h1 2025

The Botanicals example shows the mechanism clearly. LEGO is still selling bricks, but the buying occasion changes. A bouquet or plant made of LEGO elements can be bought as a Valentine’s Day gift, a Mother’s Day gift, a desk object, a stress-relief build or an adult hobby purchase. Reuters reported that LEGO’s chief executive credited Botanicals with attracting more teenage girls and women, while LEGO’s own 2024 and H1 2025 updates said Botanicals brought in new builders and performed well around gifting occasions. [Reuters]reuters.comLego sales rise as bricks click with more shoppers | ReutersLego sales rise as bricks click with more shoppers | Reuters [LEGO]lego.comthe LEGO Group Annual Report 2024the LEGO Group Annual Report 2024

That is shock absorption in practical form. LEGO is not simply adding more sets; it is adding more reasons to buy. A child’s birthday, a film release, a gaming fandom, a motorsport season, a home-decor trend and an adult collector’s payday can all become separate demand triggers. The company still faces toy-market risk, but its revenue is less dependent on a single age group, season or play pattern.

How Theme Variety Avoids Total Fragmentation

A broad portfolio can become dangerous if it turns into random diversification. LEGO’s advantage is that its variety mostly remains inside one shared system: the brick, the stud, the minifigure scale where relevant, instructions, parts reuse, rebuilding and compatibility. That common architecture lets LEGO sell very different propositions without becoming a collection of unrelated businesses.

The best-selling theme lists show the balance. City and Technic are homegrown LEGO pillars. Star Wars and Harry Potter are licensed entertainment properties. Icons and Botanicals lean towards older builders and display. Fortnite, Minecraft and Super Mario connect to gaming worlds. Formula 1 brings in sport and event-led fandom. These are different cultural doors into the same underlying building system, not separate manufacturing logics each requiring a totally distinct product universe. [LEGO]lego.comFINAL Annual Report 2023FINAL Annual Report 2023 [LEGO]lego.comOpen source on lego.com.

This matters for antifragility because theme-level experiments can produce learning without breaking the whole company. If a licensed wave underperforms, LEGO can reduce that theme. If an adult display category grows, it can expand similar formats. If a gaming partnership works, it can translate digital attention into physical sets. The firm can test many demand surfaces while retaining a common design, production and brand grammar.

There is also a renewal mechanism. Around half the portfolio has been new in recent years, which keeps the range responsive without abandoning continuity. In 2024, LEGO increased the range to 840 sets, 46% of which were new, and in 2025 it launched 314 new sets in the first half alone. The point is not novelty for its own sake. It is controlled turnover: enough newness to catch changing interests, but still anchored in familiar LEGO building. [Reuters]reuters.comOpen source on reuters.com.

The portfolio therefore avoids two opposite failure modes. A narrow toy company can be fragile because one trend, age cohort or franchise matters too much. A scattered conglomerate can be fragile because complexity destroys focus. LEGO’s stronger position is between those extremes: many doors into one system.

Retail Breadth Turns Portfolio Into Reach

Portfolio breadth only absorbs shocks if customers can actually find the right product in the right context. LEGO has therefore paired product variety with a broader channel mix: retailers, LEGO.com, LEGO-branded stores, partner-operated stores, membership programmes, in-store events and experience-led locations.

In 2023, LEGO opened 147 new LEGO-branded stores, taking the global total to 1,031, and launched LEGO Insiders as a membership programme to connect, reward and inspire fans. In 2024, it continued investing in its own and partner retail channels. Reuters reported that sales from LEGO’s own stores and website grew 12% in 2024 even as the broader toy market declined. [LEGO]lego.comThe LEGO Group FY 2024 Financial HighlightsThe LEGO Group FY 2024 Financial Highlights [LEGO]lego.comOpen source on lego.com.

This retail breadth reinforces the product breadth. A licensed set can be sold through mass retail. A premium adult display model can be showcased better in a LEGO store or online. A gifting-led range such as Botanicals benefits from seasonal merchandising. A membership programme can reach repeat adult buyers and families directly. The same portfolio becomes more shock-absorbing when LEGO has multiple ways to present it.

The 2025 acquisition of 29 LEGO Discovery Centres and LEGOLAND Discovery Centres from Merlin added another layer: hands-on branded venues that combine building zones, workshops and retail spaces. Reuters reported that the centres attract about five million visitors a year, while LEGO said they would add to its network of stores and give fans of all ages more memorable brand and shopping experiences. [Reuters]reuters.comLego sales rise as bricks click with more shoppers | ReutersLego sales rise as bricks click with more shoppers | Reuters

The mechanism is not just “more stores”. It is more feedback. Direct channels reveal what different audiences respond to, which sets work as gifts, which ranges bring in adults, which activations convert fans, and which markets need more availability. That feedback can then shape future portfolio choices.

What Portfolio Breadth Cannot Protect Against

Portfolio breadth is not a magic shield. It reduces dependence on one demand pool, but it can create its own fragilities if the company mismanages complexity. A range of more than 860 products gives LEGO many chances to grow, but it also requires accurate forecasting, strong supply-chain coordination, disciplined design choices and careful inventory control. LEGO’s 2025 results explicitly link growth with investment in factories, distribution, digital technology and supply-chain capacity, which suggests breadth must be operationally supported rather than merely announced. [LEGO]lego.comThe LEGO Group FY 2024 Performance HighlightsThe LEGO Group FY 2024 Performance Highlights

Licensing is another limit. Star Wars, Harry Potter, Minecraft, Super Mario, Fortnite, Formula 1, Bluey, One Piece and Pokémon can open valuable audiences, but licensed properties depend on partners, contract terms, release cycles and the cultural life of external franchises. A broad mix of licences reduces exposure to any single property, yet it does not remove licensing risk altogether.

Adult demand also changes the economics of the brand. Premium display sets, nostalgia products and collector ranges can be powerful, but they may make parts of the portfolio more exposed to discretionary spending. Adults can postpone a high-priced hobby purchase more easily than a parent might postpone a child’s birthday gift. The benefit is that LEGO has more buyer types; the risk is that not all of those buyers are equally stable in a downturn.

Finally, breadth cannot protect LEGO from every external shock. Plastic-material costs, sustainability pressure, tariffs, exchange rates, retail disruption and regional weakness can still affect the business. In 2023, for example, LEGO grew overall but reported that China declined because of a challenging economic environment. A broad portfolio helped the company outperform the market, but it did not make every geography or category immune. [LEGO]lego.comlego delivered topline growth and outpaced market in 2023lego delivered topline growth and outpaced market in 2023

The Antifragile Lesson

LEGO’s portfolio breadth is antifragile only in a specific, disciplined sense. The company benefits from variety because the variety is connected. Different audiences, themes and channels give LEGO more ways to meet shifting demand, but the shared brick system prevents that breadth from becoming pure sprawl.

That is the core shock-absorption mechanism: LEGO can let trends enter through many doors while keeping the house recognisably the same. Adults can arrive through Botanicals or Icons. Children can arrive through City, DREAMZzz or Bluey. Fans can arrive through Star Wars, Formula 1, Pokémon or Fortnite. Retail shoppers, online buyers, gift-givers and experience-centre visitors can all be served differently. The company is still vulnerable to market shocks, but it has built more surfaces that can catch growth when the market moves.

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Endnotes

1. Source: lego.com
   Title: lego delivered topline growth and outpaced market in 2023
   Link: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2024/march/lego-delivered-topline-growth-and-outpaced-market-in-2023

2. Source: lego.com
   Title: lego group delivers record results in 2024
   Link: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2025/march/lego-group-delivers-record-results-in-2024

3. Source: lego.com
   Link: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2026/march/the-lego-group-delivers-record-results-in-2025-driven-by-strong-brand-and-innovative-portfolio

4. Source: circana.com
   Link: https://www.circana.com/post/global-toy-sales-stabilize-in-2024-collectibles-fan-favorites-and-smart-spending-shape-the-market

5. Source: reuters.com
   Title: Lego sales rise as bricks click with more shoppers | Reuters
   Link: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/lego-sales-rise-bricks-click-with-more-shoppers-2025-03-11/

6. Source: lego.com
   Title: the lego group achieves double digit top and bottom line growth in h1 2025
   Link: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2025/august/the-lego-group-achieves-double-digit-top–and-bottom-line-growth-in-h1-2025

7. Source: reuters.com
   Link: https://www.reuters.com/business/lego-buy-entertainment-centres-merlin-270-mln-2025-09-24/

8. Source: lego.com
   Title: the LEGO Group Annual Report 2024
   Link: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt1cdf90a38318ef56/the_LEGO_Group_Annual_Report_2024.pdf

9. Source: lego.com
   Title: FINAL Annual Report 2023
   Link: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt7e9167f47da173a6/FINAL_Annual_Report_2023.pdf

10. Source: lego.com
    Link: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/lego-group/policies-and-reporting/reports

11. Source: lego.com
    Title: The LEGO Group FY 2024 Financial Highlights
    Link: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/bltf2a6246ed68fd0b6/The_LEGO_Group_FY_2024_Financial_Highlights.pdf

12. Source: lego.com
    Link: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blte543dd46714c9226/The_LEGO_Group_2025_Annual_Report.pdf

13. Source: lego.com
    Title: The LEGO Group FY 2024 Performance Highlights
    Link: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/bltefaef83bc5bbde27/The_LEGO_Group_FY_2024_Performance_Highlights.pdf

14. Source: circana.com
    Link: https://www.circana.com/post/u-s-toy-industry-shows-a-softening-decline-in-early-2024-thanks-to-the-adults-circana-reports

15. Source: licenseglobal.com
    Title: circana reports global toy sales stabilized in 2024
    Link: https://www.licenseglobal.com/toys-games/circana-reports-global-toy-sales-stabilized-in-2024

16. Source: toyworldmag.co.uk
    Title: circana reports uk toy market grows to 3 9b
    Link: https://toyworldmag.co.uk/circana-reports-uk-toy-market-grows-to-3-9b/

17. Source: toyassociation.org
    Title: circana global toy industry sales decline 7 percent in 2023.aspx
    Link: https://www.toyassociation.org/ta/PressRoom2/News/2024_News/circana-global-toy-industry-sales-decline-7-percent-in-2023.aspx

18. Source: strategosinstitute.com
    Title: LEG O®
    Link: https://www.strategosinstitute.com/uploads/cf17cf06ff987718f7a8d8edfb65bc2e6abe59cb33bfd8b079f41b20964e04af.pdf

19. Source: annualreports.com
    Link: https://www.annualreports.com/Company/lego

Additional References

1. Source: youtube.com
   Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k4DkXum98c
   Source snippet

   LEGO business strategy [adult fans]({{ 'adult-fans/' | relative_url }}) diversification growth Why Lego Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider Business Insider...

2. Source: youtube.com
   Title: Why Lego Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider
   Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d8sNML3WT8
   Source snippet

   LEGO Marketing Strategy (Most Powerful Brand In The WORLD)...

3. Source: youtube.com
   Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOdcAdqGFnM
   Source snippet

   LEGO’s Comeback: From Nearly Bankrupt To $6 Billion...

4. Source: youtube.com
   Title: LEGO’s Comeback: From Nearly Bankrupt To $6 Billion
   Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjcSKukg9IE
   Source snippet

   Why Lego Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider...

5. Source: researchgate.net
   Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389414029_The_Study_of_LEGOs_Market_Leadership_A_Financial_Valuation_Model_and_Strategic_Evaluation

6. Source: linkedin.com
   Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gregg-katz_kidults-are-saving-the-toy-industry-by-spending-activity-7408491272841089024-rPZ3

7. Source: spielwarenmesse.de
   Link: https://www.spielwarenmesse.de/en/mag/toy-market-news/adults-are-flocking-to-the-toy-aisle-even-more-than-preschoolers/

8. Source: hacerlobien.net
   Link: https://www.hacerlobien.net/lego/Grupol-010-Strategy-Analysis.pdf

9. Source: linkedin.com
   Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-revenue-optimization-companies_premium-toys-drive-us-toy-market-growth-activity-7434930675067039744-vQqA

10. Source: lemonde.fr
    Link: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/12/15/purchases-by-adults-boost-toy-sales-as-falling-birth-rates-put-pressure-on-the-industry_6748496_19.html