Latin America

2023 was the second consecutive year that sun care generated positive volume growth after three years of double-digit declines in volume sales earlier in the review period. While the dramatic drop in demand recorded earlier the review period was due…

2023 was another year of positive volume growth for skin care as the category continues to benefit from the increasing numbers of local consumers performing their beauty routines at home, rather than relying on the services of professional…

Premium beauty and personal care registered another very strong sales performance during 2023, the fourth-year during which double-digit current value growth was registered in the category as demand continued to rise steadily. In particular, sales…

During 2023, oral care was one of the beauty and personal care categories that was most negatively affected by cross-border shopping and the informal trade in parallel imports and contraband from Argentina. Throughout the year, huge numbers of…

While almost all categories of men’s grooming registered negative volume growth in 2023, men’s fragrances was the one category to buck the generally negative sales trends as both mass men’s fragrances and premium men’s fragrances registered…

2023 saw volume sales contract across numerous key categories of mass beauty and personal care, including mass deodorants, mass hair care and mass bath and shower. These three categories all suffered significant drops in demand during the year as…

2023 was the second year in a row that hair care recorded declining volume sales in Uruguay, with the category having registered falling demand during four out of the five years that comprised the review period. While sales declines earlier in the…

Fragrances continued to record positive volume growth in 2023 as the return to pre-pandemic lifestyles meant that there was more need for local people to wear fragrances amidst a return to working and socialising outside of the home on a daily basis.…

2023 was the third year in a row that depilatories in Uruguay experienced volume sales decreases, with declining demand registered in all three of the categories that comprise depilatories: hair removers/bleaches, women’s pre-shave and women’s razors…

Volume sales of deodorants in Uruguay continued to decline throughout the review period. During early stages of the review period, this was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, since 2021, the main reason for declining demand for…

2023 saw colour cosmetics record positive volume growth for the third consecutive year as the return to pre-pandemic lifestyles meant that many local consumers had more reason to wear colour cosmetics. The return to working and socialising outside of…

2023 saw Uruguay’s beauty and personal care industry face declining volume sales as cross-border shopping and the informal trade in parallel imports and contraband smuggled in from Argentina continues to erode demand for products distributed through…

2023 saw bath and shower register significant declines in volume sales and the main factor underpinning this trend is the huge gap that exists in prices between retail outlets in Uruguay and neighbouring Argentina, where the prices charged for a wide…

For the third year in a row, volume sales of baby and child-specific products decreased in Uruguay during 2023, while current value growth remained below the rate of inflation. This negative sales trend can be attributed mainly to the prevalence of…

Sun care continues to register positive volume growth in 2023 after 2022 saw the category record truly phenomenal sales growth on the back of an incredible increase in demand for baby and child-specific sun care. A number of factors contributed to…

Sun care in Costa Rica showed an improved performance in volume growth terms in 2023. This was partly due to a steep drop in inflation, which caused current value growth to slow significantly from 2022 but bolstered purchasing power among consumers.…

Facial care continued to generate positive volume growth in 2023, even as overall volume growth in skin care fell into negative territory. In recent years, facial care has benefited substantially from a range of factors that have continued to drive…

Conventional products continued to face growing competition from dermocosmetics in skin care in Costa Rica in 2023, with this trend remaining most visible in the premium segment. Recent years have seen dermocosmetic varieties offered by brands like…

Premium beauty and personal care remains a category with very low penetration within Ecuador. In the midst of perennial low sales and a general lack of dynamism, L'Oréal and its local partner Quifatex SA have begun to revitalise the category with the…

E-commerce continued to gain importance in terms of premium beauty and personal care distribution in Costa Rica in 2023. While this was in keeping with the trend evident across the market as a whole, the channel’s rising penetration also reflected…

2023 saw volume growth in oral care return to positive ground after two years of declining demand, with the most affordable brands and those which represent the best value for money generating the best sales performances. Against the backdrop of the…

Global players such as Colgate, Listerine and Oral-B continued to dominate oral care in Costa Rica in 2023 due to their trusted reputations for quality and efficacy, broad product ranges and extensive distribution coverage. However, a number of…

Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant trend towards men in Ecuador wearing beards, which has had a negative impact on demand for men’s razors and blades as the clean shaven look is no longer considered essential.…

In keeping with the trend observed earlier in the review period, multifunctional men’s grooming products continued to gain popularity in Costa Rica in 2023. Prominent examples included a Nivea Men liquid soap that is suitable for cleansing the body,…

Direct selling remained one of the most important and influential distribution channels within mass beauty and personal care during 2023. Between Yanbal, Belcorp and Natura & Co, more than 28% of value sales in this category are accounted for by…

Mass beauty and personal care products made with activated charcoal continued to gain popularity in Costa Rica in 2023. While penetration remained strongest in oral care, specifically in toothpaste and toothbrushes, rising consumer awareness of the…

Specialist hair care products are becoming increasingly important in Ecuador, not least as many consumers are looking for products that have been specifically developed to address their personal needs more effectively. Within this context, for…

Shampoos was the most dynamic of the main hair care categories in Costa Rica in terms of volume and current sales growth in 2023. Together with the fact that these products are considered a basic necessity by most consumers, it continued to benefit…

During 2023, the majority of sales recorded in fragrances were accounted for by direct selling, the distribution channel which was the most negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with challenges arising from the clash between the need…

The premium segment continued to outperform its mass counterpart in volume and current value growth terms in fragrances in Costa Rica in 2023. While this was mainly because sales in the former were increasing from a much lower base, premium brands…

Reckitt Benckiser’s Veet remained the dominant leading brand in hair removers/bleaches in 2023, despite the brand’s volume sales declining significantly over the course of the year after recording an exceptional sales performance earlier in the…

Depilatories in Costa Rica showed a markedly improved performance in volume terms in 2023, with overall sales increasing at a double-digit rate following marginal growth in 2022. This was partly explained by the strong recovery in consumer confidence…

Ecuador has been through a series of economic crises in recent years and, according to Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (INEC), more than 60.5% of Ecuadorians are currently underemployed or struggling to make ends meet despite working…

Products with more innovative and distinctive functional claims continued to win over new consumers in deodorants in Costa Rica in 2023. One of the most notable examples was Speed Stick Carbon Absorb, which is made with activated charcoal and…

2023 was a considerably better year for sales of colour cosmetics in Ecuador in comparison with what was seen in the category during 2022, when sales were still being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, some consumers were…

Longwear products continued to gain popularity across colour cosmetics in Costa Rica in 2023. The resumption of pre-pandemic routines was a key driver of demand, in that appreciation for the convenience of longer-lasting formulas increased as…

The current socioeconomic situation in Ecuador is becoming more challenging and complex for consumers and fmcg companies alike, with 2023 witnessing political instability and a deterioration of the security situation in the country. All of these…

Beauty and personal care in Costa Rica recorded a slowdown in total current value sales growth in 2023, but saw total volume sales rebound at an impressive pace following a marginal decline in 2022. These results reflected a rapid reduction in…

2023 saw a continuation of the negative volume sales trends that were registered in bath and shower in 2022, although sales declines were less severe during the year. These negative trends can be attributed largely to the declining use of products…

During the early stages of the pandemic, bath and shower manufacturers in Costa Rica scrambled to develop new antibacterial varieties and update packaging designs to highlight the germ-killing capabilities of established products. This trend was…

2023 saw significant growth in sales of baby wipes offered under brands imported from China. The appearance of these Chinese brands, which represent the ideal combination of high quality and low price, has played a key role in reenergising the…

During the initial years of the pandemic and for a period after associated restrictions were lifted, retail shelves in Costa Rica were somewhat lacking in variety when it came to baby and child-specific products, in that most stores only carried a…

2023 saw improved growth rates in both volume and current sales for overall sun care in Guatemala, compared to the previous year. All segments recorded rapid and robust rises as the sun care category remained one of the most dynamic within beauty and…

Sun care has been seeing double-digit current value growth in Chile since 2020. Although there was a notable slowdown in the rate of increase in 2023 compared with the previous few years, it remained significant – in the double digits. The slowdown…

Demand for skin care products continued to rise in Guatemala in 2023, despite the price hikes seen for the second consecutive year. Overall category growth was solid in both volume and current value terms. Guatemalans, especially in the middle- and…

Although retail volume sales continued to decline, skin care saw a much stronger current value increase in Chile in 2023, after a year of much more moderate growth. During 2022, although demand remained constrained, premium skin care showed positive…

Volume sales growth in premium beauty and personal care in Guatemala was moderate in 2023, with current value sales rising rapidly as a result of price increases, though at a slower rate than during the previous two years. Local habits in terms of…

Despite the economic situation in Chile in 2023, which forced consumers to prioritise their purchases, premium beauty and personal care maintained steady current value growth, at a very similar level to that recorded in 2022. However, significant…

Oral care in Guatemala saw prices hikes in 2023, though volume sales growth was stable while current value sales saw rapid rises. Most Guatemalans are not willing to change their oral hygiene practices despite having to pay higher prices for products…

In 2023, oral care in Chile registered a slightly better performance than in 2022, but retail volume sales continued to decline, and current value growth was minimal. Most categories continued to experience a contraction in volume demand, with…