Oral Care in the United Arab Emirates

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Toothpaste is the biggest category as a wider range of products becomes popular

Toothpaste remained the largest oral care category in 2019, with higher-priced value-added variants among the most popular products in the proximate category. Sales of mouthwashes/dental rinses are also growing as disposable incomes continue to increase, although these products are not yet considered to be must-haves, as toothpaste already is.

Cultural influences and the advice of dentists remain influential

Towards the end of the review period, sales of oral care products in the United Arab Emirates were buoyed by greater awareness of the importance of flossing and using mouthwash on a regular basis for maintaining good oral hygiene and promoting better overall health. This is unsurprising as there is a long and interesting history of oral care in oral hygiene in the country.

Multinational companies continue to lead sales due to greater focus on innovation

Multinational players continue to dominate sales of oral care in the United Arab Emirates. This can be attributed to their constant focus on research and development and the fact that their respective brands are all well-established.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of oral care are now expected to grow by 1% in 2020 in 2019 constant value terms in light of the impact of COVID-19. This is something of a slowdown from the expected 2% rise forecast for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within oral care

The oral care categories that form part of consumers’ regular daily oral and dental hygiene routines were unaffected by social distancing and home seclusion during 2020. This marks oral care out from other beauty and personal care categories which experienced significant drops in demand as products came to be seen as less essential during the period of lockdown and social distancing.

Recovery and opportunities

As a category of products that are largely seen as essential daily beauty and personal care items, oral care is likely to continue recording solid positive sales growth over the forecast period. The category can be expected to recover quickly from the slight slowdown registered due to COVID-19 in 2020, with sales set to continue being supported by the increasing focus on more detailed and comprehensive oral and dental hygiene routines that involve a wider range of oral care products, including mouthwashes/dental rinses, power toothbrushes and dental floss.

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