Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
Cosmetics market in Europe - statistics & facts
The evolving consumer demand and product innovations keep on driving the growth of global cosmetics market.
In recent years, revenues experienced significant growth, and forecasts indicate that this upward trend is set to continue. The market was in fact projected to be worth about 129 billion U.S dollars by 2029. As of 2023, North Asia and North America together were the leading geographic zones in the cosmetic market, each making up nearly 30 percent of the global market, followed by Europe with a share of 24 percent. Generally, the cosmetic market can be broken down into five main categories: skin care, hair care, make-up, perfumes, and hygiene products.
Thanks to the rising revenues of the European cosmetic market and the growing success of the several companies founded in the region, this area's strong performance is likely to continue in the coming years.
European market overview
Looking at the Europe, skin care products and toiletries are the two dominating products. While skin care's market value reached a value of about 27.7 billion euros in 2023, toiletries were close behind. By comparison, decorative cosmetics achieved the lowest result, with only 12.7 billion euros. In the same year, the consumption value of beauty and personal care items in Europe added up to nearly 96 billion euros. Within Europe, Germany held the highest market value, at about 16 billion euros. In second place came France, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain.Leading cosmetics companies
Based on its brand value of approximately 12 billion euros, the L’Oréal brand was first in the ranking of European cosmetics brands in 2024. The French personal care company was founded in 1909 and has not only become the largest cosmetics and beauty company in Europe, but also in the world. Nivea ranked second, with a brand value of about six billion euros. Nivea is a German personal care brand, owned by the multinational corporation Beiersdorf AG, founded in 1882. In the past years, both companies showed increasing revenues – according to the latest available financial figures, L’Oréal reached its peak at approximately 41 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, while Beiersdorf peaked at nearly 9.5 billion euros in the same year.Thanks to the rising revenues of the European cosmetic market and the growing success of the several companies founded in the region, this area's strong performance is likely to continue in the coming years.
