Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Perfumes

/ Convenience Goods / By

Worldwide purchases of perfume imports were worth US$16.4 billion in 2020. The annual value of globally imported perfumes flatlined over the latest 5-year period down -1.3% compared to 2016.

From 2019 to 2020, the dollar amount spent on imported perfumes fell by -18.7% gain. One reason for that drop could be the global pandemic that constrained many people to work from home, conceivably making demand for perfumes a lesser shopping priority.

The 5 most lucrative global consumer markets for selling imported perfumes surpassed one third (36.3%) of total import purchases of fragrances sourced from international markets in 2020. The strongest cashflows for buying imported perfumes were generated by: United States (13.1% of overall total), Germany (8%), United Kingdom (6.1%), Netherlands (4.6%) and China (also 4.6%).

Among these 5 key markets, the highest year-over-year buying increase was the formidable 310.9% spike generated by importers in China far ahead of the Netherlands (up 3.8%) and the United States (up 1.9%).

In many countries, perfumes can be easily purchased in big retail malls, special fashion and accessories shops and even drug stores and tiny mom-and-pop corner stores.

Perfumes comprises a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents that commonly come in sprays or with applicators.

Fragrances from the same perfume can smell different based on dietary habits of the person wearing the perfume. For instance, people eating spicy and fatty foods can result in an intensified scent. Taking medications can also influence the fragrance. In addition, anyone with dry skin often notice that perfumes will not last as long compared to consumers with oily skin.

By comparing changes in consumer demand for imported perfumes by buyer country, researchers can uncover the most compelling opportunities for selling fragrances and related products and services on international markets.

Perfumes Are Consumer Convenience Products

Perfume satisfies the criteria of a consumer good (also called an end product) created for consumers to buy in its final form as a personal care item to improve their scent. In contrast, products like turbojets are usually purchased by companies or government entities rather than individuals.

Economists classify perfume as a convenience product, a technical classification for goods that are easily accessed and purchased relatively often. Many shoppers buy perfume on monthly trips to their local drug stores, or by ordering online. That frequency can be elongated for perfumes bought for special occasions.

According to Perfume.com, a typical bottle of perfume can last from 3 to 5 years. That shelf life can be extended if the bottle is unopened and stored properly. Also, be aware that any perfume that contains vegetable oils can become rancid.

Searchable List: Imported Perfumes by Country

The searchable list below showcases marketing intelligence for the top 100 buyers of perfumes, ranked in descending order starting with the greatest annual sales amount at the 4-digit Harmonized System (HS) code level. For perfume, the HS code prefix is 3303.

Please note that the metrics presented in this article are for perfumes and toilet waters but specifically exclude aftershave lotions, personal deodorants and hair lotions.

Also shown is the percentage change in perfume sales from 2019 to 2020.

  1. United States: US$2,139,561,000 (down -13.5% from 2019)
  2. Germany: $1,300,914,000 (down -25%)
  3. United Kingdom: $998,491,000 (down -14.1%)
  4. Netherlands: $757,208,000 (down -2%)
  5. China: $747,491,000 (up 34.1%)
  6. Singapore: $650,668,000 (down -22.7%)
  7. Spain: $611,266,000 (down -27.2%)
  8. Hong Kong: $596,757,000 (up 11%)
  9. Czech Republic: $579,584,000 (up 3.1%)
  10. United Arab Emirates: $547,898,000 (down -36.8%)
  11. Italy: $470,128,000 (down -21.4%)
  12. Poland: $426,050,000 (up 2.7%)
  13. France: $383,350,000 (down -26.7%)
  14. Russia: $350,971,000 (down -37.7%)
  15. Saudi Arabia: $348,169,000 (down -24.5%)
  16. Belgium: $341,380,000 (down -11.1%)
  17. Australia: $306,926,000 (down -18.8%)
  18. Macao: $282,184,000 (up 55.4%)
  19. Austria: $215,819,000 (down -12.6%)
  20. South Korea: $202,257,000 (up 13.1%)
  21. Switzerland: $200,526,000 (down -6.7%)
  22. Canada: $195,775,000 (down -23%)
  23. Japan: $191,581,000 (down -24.3%)
  24. Panama: $178,905,000 (down -24.8%)
  25. Israel: $176,217,000 (up 8%)
  26. Mexico: $166,940,000 (down -38.4%)
  27. Romania: $157,946,000 (up 4.3%)
  28. Indonesia: $143,388,000 (down -16.2%)
  29. Chile: $142,000,000 (down -8.4%)
  30. Hungary: $114,515,000 (down -5.8%)
  31. Lithuania: $102,950,000 (down -6.4%)
  32. Portugal: $96,611,000 (down -31.4%)
  33. Turkey: $91,529,000 (down -56.5%)
  34. Taiwan: $84,959,000 (down -21.6%)
  35. Denmark: $84,667,000 (up 15%)
  36. Ukraine: $82,140,000 (down -27.4%)
  37. Ireland: $72,282,000 (down -25.4%)
  38. Sweden: $72,096,000 (down -18.1%)
  39. Croatia: $71,372,000 (down -7.8%)
  40. Bulgaria: $66,904,000 (up 8.3%)
  41. Brazil: $65,561,000 (down -35%)
  42. Malaysia: $64,809,000 (down -39.8%)
  43. Slovakia: $57,958,000 (down -20.3%)
  44. South Africa: $56,276,000 (down -28.4%)
  45. Greece: $55,911,000 (down -39.5%)
  46. Argentina: $52,840,000 (up 4.7%)
  47. Thailand: $47,035,000 (down -59.6%)
  48. Qatar: $45,676,000 (down -52.9%)
  49. India: $44,082,000 (down -60.1%)
  50. New Zealand: $43,715,000 (down -21.6%)
  51. Kazakhstan: $39,967,000 (down -21.4%)
  52. Peru: $38,713,000 (down -31.1%)
  53. Norway: $38,634,000 (down -1.7%)
  54. Vietnam: $38,281,000 (up 146.6%)
  55. Guatemala: $35,354,000 (down -33.7%)
  56. Morocco: $35,177,000 (down -11.2%)
  57. Kuwait: $33,441,000 (down -74%)
  58. Estonia: $31,964,000 (up 12.2%)
  59. Paraguay: $30,634,000 (down -59.4%)
  60. El Salvador: $29,247,000 (down -33.6%)
  61. Luxembourg: $29,073,000 (down -25.1%)
  62. Slovenia: $26,147,000 (down -17.8%)
  63. Costa Rica: $25,936,000 (down -23.6%)
  64. Belarus: $24,705,000 (down -33.6%)
  65. Andorra: $21,241,000 (down -47.7%)
  66. Colombia: $20,434,000 (down -28.2%)
  67. Serbia: $19,617,000 (up 2.6%)
  68. Trinidad/Tobago: $19,219,000 (up 60.5%)
  69. Iraq: $18,944,000 (down -78.9%)
  70. Azerbaijan: $17,109,000 (down -9.2%)
  71. Finland: $16,650,000 (down -22.1%)
  72. Egypt: $16,359,000 (down -52.8%)
  73. Tunisia: $15,891,000 (down -55.6%)
  74. Bolivia: $15,197,000 (down -37.7%)
  75. Georgia: $14,914,000 (down -26.2%)
  76. Curaçao: $14,500,000 (down -44.2%)
  77. Latvia: $14,288,000 (down -24.3%)
  78. Mauritius: $13,006,000 (down -28.8%)
  79. Philippines: $12,943,000 (down -37.2%)
  80. Lebanon: $12,592,000 (down -68.2%)
  81. Jordan: $12,447,000 (down -3.9%)
  82. Bosnia/Herzegovina: $11,773,000 (down -22.2%)
  83. Libya: $11,282,000 (down -55.8%)
  84. Nicaragua: $11,102,000 (down -46.4%)
  85. Venezuela: $10,691,000 (down -56.7%)
  86. Algeria: $10,482,000 (down -43.6%)
  87. Oman: $9,891,000 (down -90.2%)
  88. Honduras: $9,143,000 (down -41.5%)
  89. Cyprus: $9,091,000 (down -49.3%)
  90. Uruguay: $8,800,000 (down -18.3%)
  91. Ghana: $8,648,000 (up 218.5%)
  92. Dominican Republic: $8,323,000 (down -58.9%)
  93. Uzbekistan: $7,526,000 (up 25.7%)
  94. Cuba: $7,381,000 (up 7.4%)
  95. Bahrain: $7,331,000 (down -83.1%)
  96. Namibia: $7,044,000 (down -25.6%)
  97. Sri Lanka: $6,970,000 (down -46.8%)
  98. Sudan: $6,941,000 (down -57%)
  99. Ivory Coast: $6,772,000 (up 101.7%)
  100. North Macedonia: $6,725,000 (down -11.7%)

Among the above 100 global markets, 19 countries increased their spending on imported perfumes. The 6 strongest percentage gains year over year were posted by Ghana (up 218.5%), Vietnam (up 146.6%), Ivory Coast (up 101.7%), Trinidad and Tobago (up 60.5%), Macao (up 55.4%) and China (up 34.1%).

Leading the 81 decliners year over year was Oman via -90.2% drop.

Significant reductions in perfumes imported by value were also experienced by Bahrain (down -83.1%), Iraq (down -78.9%), Kuwait (down -74%), Lebanon (down -68.2%) and India (down 60.1%).

Unit Costs by World’s Top Perfume Importers

The top importers of perfumes paid a wide range of unit costs, calculated as US dollars per ton.

Below, you will find the average unit price paid by the 18 biggest perfume importers in 2020. They are presented in descending order starting with the nations that import the highest dollar value worth of imported perfumes.

  1. United States: US$26,431 per ton of perfume imports
  2. Germany: $37,892
  3. United Kingdom: $29,361
  4. Netherlands: $42,667
  5. China: $351,430
  6. Singapore: data unavailable
  7. Spain: $26,327
  8. Hong Kong: $49,585
  9. Czech Republic: $50,810
  10. United Arab Emirates: data unavailable
  11. Italy: $21,348
  12. Poland: $46,446
  13. France: $29,977
  14. Russia: $27,006
  15. Saudi Arabia: $14,828
  16. Belgium: $28,872
  17. Australia: $49,480
  18. Macao: $358,196
  19. Austria: $43,623
  20. South Korea: $53,352

The most expensive unit cost for imported perfumes is $358,196 per ton paid by Macao, ahead of $351,430 per ton paid by mainland China.

In contrast, much lower unit costs per ton of perfume purchases were enjoyed by importers in Saudi Arabia ($14,828) and Italy ($21,348).

Richest Global Markets for Imported Perfumes

Illustrated below is the market demand for perfumes imported during 2020 by 30 of world’s richest countries in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person, according to RichestCountryReports.com.

Countries are listed in descending order starting with the wealthiest economy in terms of GDP per capita.

  1. Luxembourg: US$29.1 million (Down -25.1%)
  2. Singapore: $650.7 million (Down -22.7%)
  3. Ireland: $72.3 million (Down -25.4%)
  4. Qatar: $45.7 million (Down -52.9%)
  5. Macao: $282.2 million (Up 55.4%)
  6. Switzerland: $200.5 million (Down -6.7%)
  7. Norway: $38.6 million (Down -1.7%)
  8. United States: $2.1 billion (Down -13.5%)
  9. Brunei Darussalam: $1.9 million (Up 69.7%)
  10. Hong Kong: $596.8 million (Up 11%)
  11. Denmark: $84.7 million (Up 15%)
  12. Netherlands: $757.2 million (Down -2%)
  13. United Arab Emirates: $547.9 million (Down -36.8%)
  14. Taiwan: $85 million (Down -21.6%)
  15. Iceland: $3.1 million (Up 13.9%)
  16. Austria: $215.8 million (Down -12.6%)
  17. Germany: $1.3 billion (Down -25%)
  18. Sweden: $72.1 million (Down -18.1%)
  19. Australia: $306.9 million (Down -18.8%)
  20. Belgium: $341.4 million (Down -11.1%)
  21. Finland: $16.7 million (Down -22.1%)
  22. Canada: $195.8 million (Down -23%)
  23. Bahrain: $7.3 million (Down -83.1%)
  24. France: $383.4 million (Down -26.7%)
  25. Saudi Arabia: $348.2 million (Down -24.5%)
  26. United Kingdom: $998.5 million (Down -14.1%)
  27. South Korea: $202.3 million (Up 13.1%)
  28. Malta: $3.5 million (Up 9%)
  29. Japan: $191.6 million (Down -24.3%)
  30. New Zealand: $43.7 million (Down -21.6%)

Seven among the above richest economies spent more on imported perfumes in 2020 compared to 2019. Those top gainers were Brunei Darussalam (up 69.7%), Macao (up 55.4%), Denmark (up 15%), Iceland (up 13.9%), South Korea (up 13.1%) and Hong Kong (up 11%).

Registering the severest double-digit annual declines were: Bahrain (down -83.1%), Qatar (down -52.9%), United Arab Emirates (down -36.8%), France (down -26.7%), Ireland (down -25.4%), Luxembourg (down -25.1%) and Germany (-25%).

Five among the above richest economies spent more on imported cars in 2020 compared to 2019. The top gainers were Taiwan (up 9.8%), Brunei Darussalam (up 9%), South Korea (up 8.5%), Qatar (up 6.6%) and Iceland (up 5.8%).

Enduring the greatest declines were United Arab Emirates (down -57%), Singapore (down -45%), Hong Kong (down -26.4%), New Zealand (down -24.7%), Bahrain (down -24.4%), Canada (down -23.1%) and United Kingdom (down -20.9%).

US Demand for Imported Perfumes

In 2020, the United States of America retained its crown as the world’s greatest market for imported perfumes as measured by total sales of $2.1 billion in US dollars.

America’s top 5 perfume suppliers (France, Spain, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom) accounted for 87.7% of US purchases of perfume from international markets.

The following 15 countries benefited the most from selling imported perfumes into the United States in 2020.

  1. France: US$1.3 billion (60.5% of US total)
  2. Spain: $247.7 million (11.6%)
  3. Italy: $195.3 million (9.1%)
  4. Germany: $78.7 million (3.7%)
  5. United Kingdom: $60.5 million (2.8%)
  6. Switzerland: $48.7 million (2.3%)
  7. United Arab Emirates: $45.6 million (2.1%)
  8. Mexico: $42.4 million (2%)
  9. China: $29.5 million (1.4%)
  10. India: $27.5 million (1.3%)
  11. Turkey: $14.1 million (0.7%)
  12. Canada: $11.7 million (0.5%)
  13. Japan: $6.5 million (0.3%)
  14. Luxembourg: $5.63 million (0.3%)
  15. Netherlands: $5.62 million (0.3%)

The above 15 international providers sold 98.8% of the $2.1 billion worth of imported perfumes delivered to the United States during 2020.

Year over year, 5 international perfume suppliers realized higher revenues in 2020 compared to perfumes shipped to American buyers one year earlier. The 5 gainers were Netherlands (up 81.5%), Japan (up 72.7%), Turkey (up 72%), United Arab Emirates (up 37.3%) and Germany (up 4.8%).

There were just 2 American states for which perfumes rank among their top 25 imported commodities namely New Jersey ($687.6 million worth of perfume imports in 2020) and Florida ($532.2 million).

World’s Biggest Perfume Companies

Below you will find the top 5 largest multinationals that sell perfume both domestically and on international markets.

The list was ranked in descending order based on the highest company revenues in 2020 according to Statista. Please note that those revenues include cashflows from other product lines beyond perfumes.

  1. LVMH (Paris, France): US$54.5 billion
  2. L’Oréal (Clichy, France): $33.4 billion
  3. Chanel (Paris, France): $10.1 billion
  4. Natura Cosméticos (São Paulo, Brazil): $7.3 billion
  5. Coty Inc. (New York, US): $4.7 billion
  6. Avon Products (London, UK): $3.6 billion

Shown within brackets is the city which serves as the global headquarters for each perfumes-producing conglomerate.

See also

More great research: Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Jewelry, China’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Wine, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Coffee, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Flowers

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Forbes, The Forbes Global 2000 List.

Imarc Group, Top Perfume Companies in the World.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Perfume.com, Expiration Date: Does Perfume Have a Shelf Life

Richest Country Reports, Top 50 Richest Countries by GDP per Capita.

United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade State Data.

USITC DataWeb, US Merchandise Trade: Imports for Consumption.

Wikipedia, Perfume.

World’s Top Exports, Perfumes Exporters by Country.

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