This year, the Cosmetic Valley organized a summit on the sidelines of the usual Cosmetic 360 show on October 14 and 15 in Paris. On this occasion, the firm Asterès shared the figures and the first lessons of the survey it conducted on the effects of the coronavirus on the beauty sector. Charles-Antoine Schwerer, Director of Studies at Asterès, presented these results.
The data collected comes from several sources (commercial court, Insee, customs).
General lessons
While in 2020, the beauty sector recorded a 6% decline in activity, it will post +14% in 2021. This recovery is well above the growth of the French economy.
“Despite the reduction of social ties, cosmetics consumption has quickly rebounded,” comments Charles-Antoine Schwerer. “Fears about long-term changes in habits have not been confirmed.”
The weight of foreign trade
If the recovery is finally greater than professionals had anticipated, it is thanks to exports. Exports were less important than domestic sales in 2020. Conversely, in 2021, export growth was faster than domestic sales (+21% vs +11%).
“The global economic recovery is strong, particularly strong abroad, and especially in China,” says Charles-Antoine Schwerer. “The sector is benefiting from the macroeconomic balance between zones.”
What investments during the crisis?
The firm Asterès also looked at the behavior of companies during the confinement. And unlike other sectors, investments continued to be important during this period. In two years, the productivity of cosmetic companies has increased by 7%.
The investments of the actors of the sector have increased by 34% in 2020 when it decreased by 8% in France. They have mainly …
