At Cosmed’s International Congress last December 15, 2014, Matthieu Lefort, Director of the UbiFrance office in India, and Alain Khaiat, Vice-President of the ASEAN Cosmetics Association, presented the Indian cosmetic market and the main aspects to be aware of when exporting there.
India has a surface area of 3,287,590 km², which represents more than five times the surface of the French territory, or the equivalent of the nine largest countries of Europe. It is divided into seven territories and 28 States (which can comprise several districts) where both regulations and taxes can vary.
It counts 1.25 billion inhabitants, 70% of them being under 36, and shows a fertility rate of 2.51 children per woman. Life expectancy is of 68 for women and 65 for men.
The Indian cosmetic market
The cosmetic market weighed 2.6 billion euros in 2013-2014 with an impressive growth rate of 20% per year, which offsets the fact that Indians are not big consumers. But these data might change fast with the development of the middle class and the global increase in incomes.
France is the 1st importer of perfumes in India, and the 4th for skincare and makeup (8.7 million euros for this segment).
It is to be noted that imported cosmetics are mainly Premium products, those of the mass market being mainly derived from local productions (large groups like Unilever or Procter & Gamble have chosen to produce this type of products there).
Distribution is divided between stores (groceries where everything …