Inside the stuffed animal boom for Generation Z, who are delaying adulthood

Christmas is approaching. If you’re wondering what to gift your Gen Z family member, a cute stuffed animal might be the answer this year.

2025 has seen more young people show off their vast collections of stuffed animals, proving that toys aren’t just for kids. Experts say this represents a longing for community and a return to childhood.

This popularity is driven by the craze for the Lovebu doll, a collectible toy made by Chinese toy company Popmart, and the stuffed animal, also known as Jelly, designed by British brand Jellycat.

Videos posted by Gen Z on TikTok show brightly colored stuffed animals and wide-eyed dolls lined up against walls or falling off crowded shelves.

The platform, which has become a barometer of Gen Z trends, currently has millions of videos posted of young people obsessed with stuffed animals.

Videos range from building a “love bath” to hacks for finding a real love bath, or dedicated five rack shelves for displaying jellies.

“This is the biggest year we’ve ever seen for adults buying toys,” Melissa Simmons, UK toys director at global consumer insights company Circana, said in an interview on CNBC Make It.

“Adults of all ages buy toys, but it’s primarily the younger generation, Gen Z, that’s really been driving the big growth in recent years,” Simmons said.

In fact, a recent report from Circana found that 43% of UK adults will buy a toy for themselves or another adult this year, rising to 76% for Gen Z shoppers aged 18 to 34.

According to data from Circanca shared with CNBC, stuffed animals are the fourth most popular category for adults across toy categories, with games and puzzles at the top, followed by building sets like Lego and action figures in third place.

It’s a similar story across the pond, with licensed toy sales to U.S. adults 18 and older up 18% in the first half of this year, according to Circana.

Simmons explained that companies are taking advantage of the so-called “joy economy,” where consumers seek comfort and nostalgia in products and experiences, especially when faced with economic or political pressures.

“The economy, the war, everything is really depressing and serious, but toys just bring a little bit of joy back into life,” Simmons said.

Pop Mart and Jellycat are benefiting from that trend. PopMart saw its net profit increase by nearly 400% in the first half of this year, and sales reached 13.88 billion yuan ($1.93 billion), an increase of 204.4% year-on-year.

Approximately $423 million of the company’s global revenue in 2024 will come from Love Bu dolls alone, Pop Mart previously told CNBC Make It.

Meanwhile, Jellycat’s revenue rose 66% to £333m in 2024 from £200m in 2023. Pre-tax profits more than doubled to £139m from £67m the previous year.

“It’s great to see the multi-generational response to our new characters,” Jellycat CEO Arnaud Maisel said in a statement to CNBC.

“It was great to meet so many adults who discovered Jellycat for the first time at our recent experience launches in Beijing, Seoul and Los Angeles, and to welcome so many others to our online community,” said Maisel.

Fans of Jellycat, Lovebu, and stuffed animals range from office workers to military personnel, who take to TikTok to promote the toys’ benefits for mental health amidst increasingly stressful adult lives.

Symonds of Sarcana said this is a symptom of the “Peter Pan effect,” which refers to a psychological syndrome in which adults have difficulty growing up and taking on responsibilities.

“It’s almost ironic that when you’re a kid you can’t wait to grow up, and then when you’re an adult you realize that your childhood was the best time of your life,” she said.

“There’s a bit of a Peter Pan effect where they[Gen Z consumers]don’t want to grow up, but I think they just keep the joy factor that brings them happiness.”

Gen Z adults have had a tough time as a generation, with many saying their promised adulthood has been sacrificed. Economic and geopolitical turmoil has disrupted their lives, war replays are posted daily on social media, and the cost of living continues to rise.

Conflicts they have experienced growing up include everything from Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to the Israeli-Hamas war.

To make matters worse, rising inflation means that economic milestones such as buying a home or starting a family are becoming less affordable and out of reach.

Many Gen Zers are instead resorting to “catastrophic spending” to fill the gap. This refers to the phenomenon where people splurge on small luxuries like travel, branded goods, and even expensive toys because they know they’ll never be able to achieve big milestones like owning a home or even children.

Delaying parenthood also means Gen Z has more disposable income to spend on small luxuries.

“I think part of the reason for that is because they (Gen Z) are choosing to have kids that are a little bit older, so they have the money coming in for a little bit longer, but they don’t necessarily have to spend it on school or lunch boxes, so they’re choosing to spend the money on themselves to make themselves happy,” Simmons said.

In addition to economic hardship, Gen Z suffers from loneliness, and for some, buying and collecting toys helps them feel part of a community.

Around 85% of UK Gen Zers reported experiencing feelings of loneliness, according to a Hinge survey of 2,000 UK Gen Z adults conducted in March. Research shows that more than half of low-income youth experience extreme loneliness.

Jellycat’s Meysselle explained that the brand launched its Instagram and TikTok accounts in 2022 with the aim of building a community for fans, and both have since gained more than 2 million followers.

It is also investing in themed pop-up experiences that fans can visit in person, from Jellycat Fish & Chips at Selfridges in London to Jellycat Patisserie at Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Jellycat Diner at FAO Schwartz in New York.

Approximately 80% of the fans who gathered for the Jellycat Space Experience, which began in Seoul in November, were in their 20s and 30s, the highest percentage of adults ever for a Jellycat experience.

Joe Evans, toy buyer at Selfridges, told CNBC Make It that Jellycat is the company’s best-selling toy brand and that over the past two years the company has seen a “sharp increase” in Gen Z and Millennial customers who “want to collect toys because they feel part of a community.”

“When you buy Jellycat, you feel like you’re part of a community and you feel like you’re part of something. There are a lot of discussion groups online and people are competing for the best and latest products,” he added.