In 2017, the European cosmetics market was valued at 77.6 billion euros, which makes Europe remain the largest market for cosmetic and personal care products in the world.
According to Cosmetics Europe, the industry supports over 2 million jobs across the European value chain.
Despite the return to a more dynamic growth, the European market remained impacted by low performance of some key markets, in particular: the United Kingdom (-6.8%), The Netherlands (-1.9%) and France (-0.5%).
As far as products are concerned, all categories are up from 2016, with the exception of perfumes (-0.4%) and makeup (-0.1%).
Skin care and toiletries remain the most important product categories in Europe, followed by hair care and fragrances.
In this context of moderate growth, international trade remains a key driver for the European industry. More than 20.2 billion euros of cosmetic products were exported by European countries in 2017 (compared to 18.2 billion in 2016). Total imports amounted to only 5.935 million euros, mainly from the United States, China and Japan (compared to 5.633 million euros in 2016). More than ever, exports appear as the real propeller of the European cosmetics industry’s growth.
