The cosmetics market is growing everywhere – more and more people are investing in luxury products in Finland

The global cosmetics market is expected to grow by just over 17 per cent between 2023 and 2028, with the fastest growth rate expected for the Asian, Latin American and African cosmetics markets. Growth forecasts for Europe and Finland are clearly slower than the global market. The United States is by far the world’s largest consumer market for cosmetics. In Europe, the largest consumer markets for cosmetics are found in Germany, France and the UK.

Although the growth of the entire cosmetics market is expected to be slow in Europe and Finland, the growth forecast for luxury cosmetics is faster than the global market.

“The purchasing power of individual consumers in Finland and Europe is higher than the average in high-growth regions: Africa, Asia and Latin America. Many luxury brands are also European and very familiar to us, so buying them is part of normal consumption for many,” says Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist of the Finnish Commerce Federation , interpreting the background to the forecast.

The report prepared by Kurjenoja examines makeup, fragrances, the purchase of skin and hair care products and products related to personal cleanliness, the size of the market and growth forecasts internationally.

Beauty tech brings artificial intelligence to beauty care routines

The global cosmetics market is currently shaped by many strong trends, such as men’s use of cosmetics, demand for anti-aging products, and the rise of organic cosmetics. One of the most interesting trends is beauty tech products, that is, technical beauty products.

“In technical beauty products, traditional beauty care tools or products are deepened, for example, with the help of artificial intelligence or augmented and virtual reality,” Kurjenoja explains.

These may include, for example, mobile applications that allow you to try different makeup products or hairstyles on your own face, perform skin analyses and receive product recommendations for identified skin problems. They can also be home-based manicure devices combining artificial intelligence and robotics, devices monitoring UV radiation on the skin, smart mirrors or 3D prints to support the application of makeup.

The biggest market for beauty tech is Asia, but Africa is growing at a tremendous pace. Of the Nordic countries, compared to its size Sweden is a superpower for beauty tech startups (e.g. FOREO, Ellure, Estrid, Sniph). At the moment, the beauty tech consumer market in Sweden is almost 50% larger than in Denmark, Finland or Norway.

“The development of technical beauty products can change the use of traditional beauty and care services or the demand for professional cosmetics. If you can do professional-level makeup, manicure or skin and hair analysis at home, will it reduce the need for similar services?” Kurjenoja asks.

Affordability also guides Finns with cosmetics purchases

An international consumer survey* compares the customer journey of cosmetics for 18–64-year-olds in Finland, Sweden, Germany and the UK. In Finland, the three most important criteria for buying cosmetics are low price, suitability for skin type and the image of quality. Low price and suitability for skin type are clearly more important purchase criteria for Finns than for consumers in the reference countries.

“Consumer polarisation can also be seen with cosmetics purchases. While some customers are highly price-driven, others make their purchases guided by a quality image and brand,” Kurjenoja says.

In Finland, gender differences are also large in both the purchase criteria for cosmetics and brand awareness. For example, the product quality or the image of quality is clearly a lower factor for Finnish men than for Finnish women or men in the reference countries.

Although the regular use of personal cleanliness products and dental care products in Finland has decreased in recent years, they are still used more by us than in the reference countries. In particular, Finnish women take care of their teeth and personal cleanliness clearly more or more regularly than other women.

“What is worrying is that the use of personal cleanliness products and, in particular, dental care products has decreased most in Finland among people under the age of 30 in recent years. This can have long-term effects on future dental health,” Kurjenoja says.

* The data used for the consumer survey is an international consumer survey collected and reported by Statista, in which the sample concerning Finland includes 12,188 continental Finns aged 18–64. Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist of the Finnish Commerce Federation, is in charge of analysing the results and comparing them between countries.

Attachment: Cosmetics Consumers and Consumer Markets (in Finnish, PDF)

For further information, please contact:

Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358 (0)40 820 5378, jaana.kurjenoja@kauppa.fi