Belgium

Total volume sales continued to decrease in 2018. While responsible consumption and health consciousness were the main reasons, government actions against alcohol consumption had the major impact on the volume of beer consumed, especially in the ...

Cider has seen its formulation change from a traditional product made in small quantities to a sweet alcoholic beverage made from fruit juice concentrate. Often referred to as “modern cider”, these kinds of cider are sold in similar packaging to ...

Total volume sales continued to decline in Belgium in 2018. The main reason was the purchasing behaviour of Belgians. While real alcoholic drinks consumption is not declining, crossing the border to buy alcoholic drinks has become a habit among ...

The effects of the 2016 rise in excise duties on alcoholic drinks remain visible spirits. In 2018, the category saw a further decline in total volume and current value terms. Thus, the gap between actual alcoholic drinks consumption and purchases ...

Total volume sales continued to decrease in 2018, largely due to rising health consciousness and cross-border trade. Moreover, some types, such as port, sherry and, to a lesser extent, still light grape wine have an old-fashioned image and find it ...

Western Europe continues to evolve digitally, and consumers are increasingly embracing digital services. The digital evolution is being spurred by investment in infrastructure from governments and key operators, leading to enhancements in broadband ...

Belgium’s economy will continue to grow modestly in 2019. Private consumption will be an important driver of growth, supported by past and announced additional reductions in labour taxation, and robust wage growth. Favourable financial conditions ...

The prevalence of smoking in Belgium continues to decrease due to health concerns. This continues to cause volume sales of cigarettes decline. The category will continue to fall because of the “denormalisation” of smoking in Belgian society and ...

Smoking tobacco sales decreased again in 2018, plumbing historical depths. A large excise tax increase has combined with more smokers migrating to e-cigarettes, which are less expensive and deemed a way to wean off smoking altogether for those ...

Tobacco sales in Belgium continue to decrease owing to healthier lifestyles and “denormalisation” campaigns intended to allow the young generation to have a smoke-free environment. Cigarettes, smoking tobacco, and cigars and cigarillos registered ...

Since 1 January 2017, legislation in Belgium has been treating e-vapour products the same as smoking tobacco and cigarettes. Therefore, online sales have been banned since that time, but some internet sellers remained selling the items online after ...

Supported by more casual dress codes and the spread of sport as a status symbol, sportswear in Western Europe is seeing significant value growth, despite fierce price competition. Rising per capita spending on versatile trainers and leggings is ...

Weather conditions show great variation in Belgium, especially in summer. This factor obviously highly influences sales of sun care products. In 2016, high levels of rain, especially during July, August and September, resulted in a strongly negative ...

Despite price pressure and maturity, baby and child-specific products managed to record a positive performance in 2018. This was mainly due to two factors: on the one hand, manufacturers focused on upgrading and extending the age range of baby and ...

The most important reasons behind bath and shower’s static performance in 2018 were maturity and price pressure. Competition within retailers, in both grocery and non-grocery, and the increasing relevance of both discounters and ...

Colour cosmetics posted slight value sales growth in 2018. Performances of product categories within colour cosmetics were, however, very diverse. Overall, eye make-up and facial make-up posted positive performances, whereas lip and nail products ...

Deodorants saw a slightly positive value sales performance in 2018, in spite of maturity and price pressure. Sprays remained the biggest category; in 2015 and 2016 several manufacturers launched compressed formats. Their success, however, had also ...

The most important factor behind depilatories growth in 2018 was the success of women’s razors and blades. Indeed, busy lifestyles pushed more women to shave at home instead of opting for professional services in beauty salons. In this context, amid ...

Several factors were at play in fragrances’ positive performance in 2018: strong innovation, especially from prestige brands; the glamour image of premium fragrances; intense advertising, especially on the eve of Christmas; and consumers’ increased ...

Hair care’s stagnant performance in 2018 was mostly due to the negligible value sales performance of shampoo, the biggest product category in hair care by a wide margin. In other hair care categories, consumer demand proves to move away more and more...