Fragrances in the United Arab Emirates

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Traditional fragrance culture and importance of personal hygiene support sales

Fragrances have traditionally played a very important role in Arabian culture. Indeed, there are very specific ways to wear fragrances and perfume that apply across the region, with the layering of scents central to this.

Traditional Arabian brands continue to lead sales in fragrances

A generation ago, few non-Arabs had even heard of oud. Highly rare, oud comes from a South Asian evergreen tree that produces the resin that is refined to make oud.

Coty Inc remains the leading player in Western (non-oud) fragrances

Among more mainstream Western fragrance brands, Coty Inc remains the leading player. 2019 saw the US-based multinational remain the leading non-Arabian name in sales of fragrances.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of fragrances are now expected to decline by 15% in 2020 in 2019 constant value terms in light of the impact of COVID-19. This represents a complete turnaround from the expected 1% rise forecast for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within fragrances

All fragrances categories are expected to register strong sales declines for the reasons stated above, with premium fragrances categories likely to have experienced a steeper drop-off in demand than mass fragrances categories.

Recovery and opportunities

It is expected that it will take some years for sales of fragrances to recover from the damage caused by the COVID-19 situation in 2020. With many expatriate workers having left the country due to the difficulty they face finding work as result of the economic slowdown that is followed the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumer base fragrances has been substantially diminished.

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