Jewellery in Asia Pacific

Key Findings

Growth already slowing in 2019

Jewellery, after two years of strong growth, saw a marked slowdown in Asia Pacific in 2019, with sales falling slightly in China and Taiwan, and experiencing a steep decline in Hong Kong. While the latter was down to the unrest in Hong Kong, resulting in retail closures and fewer visitors from the mainland, China and Taiwan were both hit by the popularity of gold jewellery among local consumers, with gold prices rising on the international markets in this year.

Sales collapse due to the pandemic in 2020

Jewellery was one of the worst-affected fmcg markets in terms of retail sales in 2020, when it was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures to contain the spread of the virus, eg retail closures or lockdowns, hit sales directly, but also indirectly put pressure on disposable incomes. Retail shutdowns hurt sales as consumers generally like to see fine jewellery in store before buying it. They were also directing their spending towards more essential items.

E-commerce continues gaining share

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 Japan and China. The online sales shares tend to be (much) bigger for costume jewellery, with consumers still much more keen to actually see fine jewellery before buying it. Nevertheless, internet retailing represented an ideal solution for buying goods in lockdown or when looking to avoid going out in public.

Swift return to positive growth expected from 2021

Jewellery will quickly see a return to recording positive growth rates in 2021. However, while post-pandemic performances will be encouraging, the depth of the 2020 decline will mean that sales levels will not return to the 2019 peak before the end of the forecast period.