Jewellery sales recorded a strong rebound in 2021 from the steep decline seen in 2020, when Coronavirus (COVID-19) first hit the region. Sales began to recover in the second half or final quarter in many Asia Pacific countries in 2020, and, although some markets were impacted by further lockdowns during 2021, performances improved markedly year on year in most markets across the region in 2021, although Asia Pacific sales as a whole will take a few more years to return to pre-pandemic levels.
While most markets in Asia Pacific were recording positive growth in their jewellery sales in 2021, following the marked declines seen almost across the board in 2020, many were unable to return immediately to their pre-pandemic levels. China, the region’s biggest market, was an exception to this, in spite of also having seen a slight sales decline in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The Thai market continued to decline in 2021, with COVID-19’s economic impact meaning that many Thai consumers were maintaining conservative and economical spending behaviour, hitting demand for jewellery products.
Fine jewellery tended to outperform costume jewellery across much of the region in 2021. In China, for example, this was due to luxury spending happening more in the domestic market than usual, given the travel restrictions still in place. However, the postponement of many weddings to 2021, also helped sales of gold jewellery, a common gift at wedding ceremonies in both China and India, driving fine jewellery sales.
Although store-based retailing continues to dominate jewellery sales in Asia Pacific, circumstances combined in 2020 to help e-commerce record strong growth, with the biggest shares seen in Hong Kong, Japan and China. While the online sales shares shrank in some countries in 2021, they also tended to remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
Jewellery will see positive annual growth rates over the 2021-2026 period, although they will be gradually slowing year on year. Pre-pandemic sales levels are not, currently, expected to be reached until 2023, although the spiking case numbers being seen in early 2022 could push this date back a little further.
If you purchase a report that is updated in the next 60 days, we will send you the new edition and data extract FREE! Home Page