At Cosmed’s International Congress last December 15, 2014, Mikako Shiina, Export Development Manager of UbiFrance Japan, Yoko Nakamura, former delegate of the Cosmetics Division at the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and Kazuko Ito, Secretary-General of the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association, presented the Japanese cosmetic market and the main aspects to be aware of when exporting there.
Japan has a surface area of 333,829 km², which represents about half the French territory, but a population of 127.8 million inhabitants, twice that of France.
With a fertility rate of 1.41 children per woman, the number of Japanese tends to decrease, while life expectancy is getting longer (86.9 years old for women, 80 for men).
The Japanese cosmetic market
With the equivalent of 16.2 billion euros in 2013, Japan is the 2
nd
largest cosmetic market in the world, the largest being the United States.
The same year, imports represented 1.5 billion euros, including 371 million euros for France, the 1
st
foreign supplier on the Japanese market (25% of imports), ahead of the United States (19%) and China (9%). The other players account for a more modest proportion: Korea (6%), the United Kingdom (3%), Italy (3%), Germany (3%)…
The most popular French cosmetics in Japan are perfumes, skincare products, and makeup.
Distribution of sales
More than half the expenditure on cosmetics is shared by two regions: Kanto, with the Greater Tokyo area (30 million inhabitants) is worth 37%, while Kinki (and the greater Ozaka area, with its 19 million inhabitants) represents 18%.
Then come the regions of Chubu …