Currently many countries within the Latin American region are going through challenging times, particularly in Venezuela, where the current political regime looks uncertain, while Argentina is facing up to some significant economic challenges.
Brazil has seen its fair share of economic and political upheaval in recent years, and was particularly hard hit during the 2015 – 2017 downturn. But things have turned around more recently and increased economic activity is translating as a big positive for the country’s beauty and personal care market.
Five year forecast looks strong
In the five year period 2017 to 2022, Euromonitor International analysts believe the market in Brazil will grow by a healthy 26.7%, which translates into an industry-leading CAGR of 4.8%.
The figure firmly places the country at the top of the rankings when it comes to growth forecast and is also a good omen for the industry as a whole, given that Brazil is by far the largest beauty and personal care in Latin America, and the fourth largest in the world.
According to Euromonitor figures, the Brazil market will reach a value of just under $35 billion in 2019, while the Japan market will be worth $37 billion, China at $60.5 billion and the US market will remain the largest in the world with a value of just under $90 billion
Strong forecast coincides with new government
On January 1st, 2019, new far right wing President, Jair Bolsonaro took up his position at the head of a new government after he convincingly won the presidential elections the previous October.
The business world reacted positively to the election of the country’s first right-wing president in 15 years, with the Bovespa stock index and the national currency both strengthening significantly the day after the election results.
Looking closer at the economic forecast for Brazil, FocusEconomics put together a panel of six economic experts to find out what they thought was in store for the country in the first year of the Bolsonaro government, with the outcome proving to be largely positive for the country’s 2019 financial outlook.
Where the growth is likely to occur
Since the recovery of the Brazil market, the categories that have seen the best growth have included the color cosmetics, fragrance and hair care categories.
Men’s grooming will also continue to grow fast, albeit it from a smaller base, as attitudes among younger men about taking more care of their appearance slowly change.
Likewise, hair care will remain by far the biggest category in the country, with the trend for natural styling and looks continuing to impact the market as more and more hair care products are launched to celebrate curls, rather than hair straightening.