Baby and Child-Specific Products in Japan

2021 DEVELOPMENTS

Return to decline as pandemic-induced spike in baby wipes ends

Baby and child-specific products saw a current value decline in 2021, due to the falling birth rate in Japan, and fewer opportunities to go out due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Baby wipes, which has traditionally been more significantly affected by the declining birth rate in Japan, showed a positive performance in 2020, as the spread of COVID-19 led to a surge in demand for sanitising home care wipes and stock-outs.

Higher-priced skin care products gain popularity

Within baby and child-specific products, baby and child-specific skin care products are basic items used on a daily basis, and sales of products with higher value and prices are supported by their perceived quality and safety, contributing to steady growth in value terms. This is also due to the trend amongst skin care-conscious parents, who are increasingly using highly moisturising products for their babies and children year-round, instead of using them only during the dry seasons of autumn and winter, as they may have done in the past.

Baby and child-specific sun care fails to see any recovery in 2021

Baby and child-specific sun care, which is a category usually supported by sales to inbound tourists, experienced significant decline in 2020, due to restrictions on foreign travellers coming into Japan, in addition to reduced opportunities for people to go out due to the spread of COVID-19. In 2021, although the Tokyo Olympics were held, a year later than originally scheduled, the number of infected people remained high in Japan, therefore restrictions remained in place on arrivals, and events were held without spectators.

PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Baby and child-specific sun care and skin care will buck the declining trend

Baby and child-specific products is expected to continue to see slight current value declines in the first years of the forecast period, due to the impact of population decline and the falling birth rate. There are some exceptions, such as baby and child-specific sun care, which experienced a drop in demand due to the pandemic, but is expected to experience growth from 2022, due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the recovery of movement, as well as the gradual recovery of inbound travellers.

Baby and child-specific launches likely to follow similar trends to adult products

Sales of baby and child-specific skin care and sun care products (like adult products) are partly supported by inbound tourist demand. These categories are expected to show growth in the forecast years due to the gradual easing of restrictions on tourists’ entry into the country, expected after the second half of 2022.

Prospects are not as bright for baby and child-specific hair care

In contrast to baby and child-specific skin care and sun care, in which inbound demand is important, and there is strong consumer awareness of high-performance products with high unit prices, baby and child-specific hair care, for which domestic demand is the highest and usage volumes do not fluctuate greatly, is expected to see a gradual downwards trend in the market, due to the declining birth rate in the forecast years. In addition, there is a tendency for consumers to purchase large-volume products that are cost-effective and can be left at home, which means that high-performance, high-priced products are not being aggressively introduced in the market, and growth in unit prices is expected to remain stagnant, which will also be a factor hampering growth in the category.