By Alimat Aliyeva

Sales of colored Lego bricks in the first half of the year exceeded the growth rate of the toy market as a whole, due to high demand in Europe and North America, Azernews reports.

The increase in Lego sales is due to the stagnation of the global toy market and sluggish sales from competitors such as Barbie, Hasbro (My Little Pony).

The family-owned Lego company said sales rose 13 percent from January to June to $4.65 billion.

"We have achieved significantly better results than the entire toy market and have increased market share quite quickly," CEO Niels Christiansen told Reuters.

The company plans to open about 100 stores this year, bringing the total number of stores to over 1,100.