A market analysis about the Chinese cosmetics market

The cosmetic market in China has increased its position from being hardly noticed to the third biggest cosmetic market in the world during the last 20 years. The growth rates were between 14% and 16% during the last years and the forecasts show the same positive development. This enormous market growth rate is due to increase of wages in China. Furthermore the traditional points of views of women and men have changed with regard to cosmetics application. Until the early nineties, only a very few Chinese women have used to use cosmetics. However, this has changed promptly, when the state authorities have stopped the stigmatisation of lipstick and make-up usage at that time. Particularly, women who live in the big cities of China spend a lot of money on beauty products - for example in Shanghai it accounts for about 10% of the income.

 

There is a great demand of high-end cosmetic brands of western manufacturers. And until now many of them are already available in China. The brand awareness is constantly growing because in addition to the high quality, the presentation as well as the image plays a significant role in consumers’ purchasing decisions.

 

By now, about 150 millions of Chinese out of 1,3 billions, are considered to belong to the middle-class, while it is forecasted that in year 2020 the middle-class of Chinese population will grow up to about 400 millions. The Chinese cosmetics market is still a growing market. The dynamic development will continue in the future, offering excellent opportunities for the European cosmetic manufacturers to successfully enter the market.