British children get toys worth £508

legoBrits are busy spending again after the confines of the Great Recession and there is only one country where people spend more on children’s toys.

The average British consumer forked out £508 on toys and games for each child in 2013.

They were outstripped in their spending only by the Australians who spent £555 for each child, according to data from Euromonitor International.

Other big spenders were in Japan (£504), Germany (£497) and Hong Kong (£478).

“Middle class households are very important to the toys and games industry because they largely drive consumer spending. Although the middle class in emerging markets is seeing rapid expansion, purchasing power remains low,” Euromonitor wrote in a report.

Spending on non-essential items averaged $6,095 in China and $3,611 in India compared to $83,959 in Australia and $72,994 in the US.

Countries where there are older first-time mothers and more working women also were found to spend more on toys.

Sales were increased by the popularity of certain toys, such as the Furby, and smash hit films, such as Frozen and The Lego Movie. Characters from Frozen have become more popular than Barbie.

The UK toy market is worth £5.7bn.