Western Europe

Chilled ready meals continued to record strong unit volume growth in its packaging in 2021. While consumers in home seclusion had been looking for easy options to cook and eat a year earlier in 2020, as consumer mobility increased in 2021, home…

Cooking ingredients was continuing to register above-average growth in 2021, as the home-cooking trend remained in place and consumers continued to experiment with a plethora of dishes, although growth slowed compared to the previous year, with a…

COVID-19 drove a significant increase in demand for ready meals packaging in 2020, with further strong growth seen in 2021. Spending more time at home than usual led to a spike in the retail volume sales of ready meals owing to the ease and…

COVID-19 boosted demand for sauces, dressings and condiments packaging during 2020, as it led to consumers spending more time at home and preparing and eating more meals there. This boosted demand for a number of pack types in this category. While…

The positive growth registered in ready meals packaging during 2020 can be attributed mainly to the spike seen in demand for ready meals within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the requirement for all consumer foodservice outlets…

Sauces, dressings and condiments recorded strong sales growth in Switzerland during 2020 as the unprecedented situation that unfolded over the course of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic discouraged consumers from going out. This led to a huge…

As consumers had been spending more time at home during the pandemic, but were wearying of preparing their own meals or were still working, even if from home, and had less time for meal preparation, they were increasingly opting for frozen ready…

The increasing emphasis on eating healthy foods has been boosting the consumption of salad in recent years in Turkey, with the COVID-19 pandemic, as a major health crisis, only serving to further drive this trend among local consumers. Consequently,…

While dinner mixes was already the most dynamic category in ready meals packaging prior to the pandemic, it received a major spike in its demand in 2020, as the COVID-19 restrictions boosted demand for these products. With consumers in home seclusion…

Overall sauces, dressings and condiments packaging recorded a surge in its unit volume growth in 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers across the country shifted to working and studying remotely, with extensive lockdown periods…

Sales of Asian speciality drinks have not yet fully recovered from the sharp decline in off-trade volume terms that was seen in 2020 and during the first half of 2021 as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic made it difficult…

Gibraltar’s cooperation in tax matters has made the territory more transparent. Issues over the state’s sovereignty remain unresolved, which is a source of instability. Strength in financial services and the online gaming sector could support…

Asian speciality drinks remains a niche category with very limited sales in the Dutch market. With little investment in innovation and marketing, the category remains reliant on a small base of specific consumer groups and has experienced a…

During 2022, all breakfast cereals categories benefited from new products being launched. Consumers have become much more sensitive to the health and wellness trend since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the return to pre-pandemic daily…

The presence of store cards remained negligible in Greece during 2022. No major interest in launching products in this category of the financial cards has been shown by any of the country’s financial cards issuers. In particular, the unfavourable…

Store cards have been non-existent in the Netherlands since 2015. Since then, no new players have launched store cards and there have been no new attempts to introduce store cards by any of the former players. There is little sign that any meaningful…

In Norway, general merchandise stores only includes variety stores, as there are no department stores in the country. In 2020, the channel saw exceptional current value growth as consumers looked for items such as cleaning products when the pandemic…

In 2022, baby and child-specific products registered modest retail volume growth and a strong increase in retail current value sales. Higher prices in line with high inflation in the country pushed retail value sales at the end of the review period.…

Overall, in 2022, bath and shower saw a drop in retail volume sales and slow growth in retail current value sales, underpinned by higher prices. However, performances varied strongly from category to category. Having seen exponential growth in 2020,…

Overall, beauty and personal care continued to recover from the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Beauty and personal care was shaped by the return of the demand for most types of beauty and personal care, in particular for products that…

Colour cosmetics registered a dynamic performance in 2022. Colour cosmetics posted weak performances due to low consumer demand in 2020 and 2021, largely determined by the exigencies of Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns. Consumers spent more time at…

Retail volume and current value sales of deodorants suffered during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic due to the shift to home office and generally spending more time at home in accordance with lockdowns. As COVID-19 regulations were relaxed as the…

Coronavirus (COVID-19) measures saw lockdowns, remote working and restrictions on socialising. This resulted in many consumers spending long periods at home and less time in the office or on social or leisure activities during the pandemic. As a…

Overall, fragrances recorded mid-single digit retail current value sales growth in 2022. This performance was supported by a marginal recovery in the demand for premium fragrances, as a result of a return to more regular usage and purchasing…

Hair care generates a healthy share of overall beauty and personal care retail sales in Austria. In 2022, hair care accounted for the second-highest retail value share in beauty and personal care, behind skin care. The demand for hair care was stable…

Mass beauty and personal care continued to account for the vast majority of overall beauty and personal care retail value and volume sales in 2022. Mass beauty and personal care recorded strong growth in retail current value terms, albeit boosted by…

Men’s grooming saw a marginal increase in retail volume sales and strong rise in retail current value sales in 2022. This followed two years of decline, largely due to the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The improved performance of…

Oral care derived benefits from increased consumer awareness and interest in oral care, in line with the health and hygiene trend in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Austria. The demand for oral care products was on the rise in…

Premium beauty and personal care recorded strong retail current value terms in 2022. The retail current value growth rate was higher than that seen in mass beauty and personal care. The reasons for this performance were, on the one hand, significant…

Skin care saw healthy retail current value growth in 2022, although retail volume sales dropped following slight-to-moderate increases through the review period, including during the height of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 and 2021.…

In early 2021, travel for Austrian consumers remained restricted, largely to within the EU. This maintained a limit on the opportunities to use and, therefore, the demand for sun care. As international travel started to show a significant recovery,…

Relatively high taxes and a lack of fiscal discipline are negatively affecting economic freedom, whilst France is prone to significant social unrest. Economic momentum is slowing, as higher borrowing costs adversely impact investment and confidence,…

The large size of the oral care packaging category in the French beauty and personal care industry can be attributed to a cultural emphasis on personal care and grooming, with oral health seen as an essential aspect of overall hygiene and beauty in…

Hair care is the largest beauty and personal care category in Germany in terms of retail unit volume sales, and continued to grow in 2022. The growth of hair care benefitted retail packaging unit volume sales of the leading pack type in the category,…

In the post-pandemic period, people are spending a lot more time outside their homes, helping to boost the use of colour cosmetics in 2022. Make-up as a concept was also starting to be seen as a form of self-expression and self-care, promoting mental…

Flexible paper packaging continued to lose share to folding cartons and flexible plastic in beauty and personal care in Spain in 2022. This can be attributed to the fact that, when compared to flexible paper, flexible plastic and folding cartons are…

Squeezable plastic tubes are an important pack type in Switzerland’s beauty and personal care market, used to package products within oral care, skin care, sun care and other categories. Globally, a shift is being observed in the manufacturing of…

In 2022, folding cartons took over from HDPE bottles as the main pack type in unit volume terms in UK beauty and personal packaging. This can be attributed to the fact that, in addition to being lightweight and easy to carry, folding cartons also…

Skin care packaging in Sweden continued to record positive growth in 2022 not just due to the demand for these products among the local population but also as a result of its emphasis on sustainable packaging materials, minimalist designs and a…

Within the pack types used in the packaging of toothpaste, squeezable plastic tubes accounted for the dominant share in 2022, with folding cartons the next biggest pack type. Toothpaste brands are increasingly launching sustainably packaged products…

When the pandemic first arrived in Turkey in 2020 it resulted in bath and shower recording very strong growth in its packaging unit volumes thanks to an increase in demand for personal hygiene and self-care products. Bath and shower has since…

The long-term trend of declining volume sales of cigarettes continued in 2022, with consumers increasingly aware of the levels of harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. Cigarettes posted negative performances in both retail volume and current value…

Sales of both cigars and cigarillos recorded solid retail volume growth in 2022. Many smokers consider cigar smoking as an occasional indulgence rather than a daily necessity, and are less likely to try to quit smoking or to reduce their consumption…

Turkey is facing rising authoritarianism, along with the undermining of its secular society and democracy. Earthquakes in early 2023 are to negatively affect economic development considerably and increase state spending, whilst they have also clouded…

In 2022, heated tobacco products maintained a strong performance, as more smokers adopted these as an alternative to cigarettes. Price promotions on devices, notably the entry-level compact device Iqos Iluma One by Philip Morris, contributed to…

After seeing retail volume growth in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, cigarettes experienced declines in 2021 and 2022, in line with the longer-term trend towards decreasing smoking prevalence. As a large proportion of the economically active…

Flavoured/mixed lager packaging continued to register strong growth in France's alcoholic drinks packaging industry in 2022, helped by changing consumer preferences and the demand for unique taste experiences. Breweries sought to differentiate their…

Defying expectations and predictions, there was a significant recovery in travel and tourism in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023. Within this, airlines has been a standout performer in France as well as many other countries. The…

Booking sales have seen a strong recovery over 2022-2023. Industry players have benefited from the rearrangement of postponed travel bookings, with many consumers having postponed travelling abroad during the pandemic. After two years of restrictions…

Lodging fared better in 2022 than had been expected and continues to perform well in 2023. 2020 and 2021 were a disaster for the hotel industry, with occupancy rates of 38% and 48% respectively, according to INSEE – French official statistics. The…