D. Petruzzi
Research expert covering Cosmetics, Personal Care, Health & Hygiene industries.
Prestige/luxury beauty market in the U.S. - statistics & facts
Every day consumers are given the opportunity to test and choose from not only many types of products and brands, but also from different price ranges, and the prestige/luxury beauty industry attracts several shoppers worldwide each year. In 2024, the global prestige cosmetics market generated revenues of about 24 billion U.S. dollars, and this value was forecast to keep on increasing up to around 29 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. Growth was forecasted also for the United States, which currently is one of the leading markets in the industry: revenues are expected to reach a value of nearly 14 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. In the United States, prestige cosmetics and fragrances make up the largest share of this market, followed by prestige skin care.
The prestige/luxury beauty is a successful sector of the beauty industry, and many consumers in the United States are willing to invest in such products. Although forecasts show that its growth will not be stopped, this market has recently been experiencing a slowdown, specifically in some countries in Asia, but also in North America and Europe. Several factors have contributed to this slowdown, including the high competitiveness in the market and the even higher cost of living leading consumers to resist price hikes.
U.S market: sales results
In the last few years, prestige beauty sales in the United States have experienced an incessant growth. Apart from a small setback in 2020, a double-digit growth was experienced every year from 2021 until 2023, when this value added up to about 14 percent. That same year, sales for the U.S. mass beauty market increased by only six percent, marking a significant divide between the two categories. During the first half of 2024, fragrances were the best performing category in the U.S. prestige beauty market, and recorded the highest increase in sales, followed by hair care.Consumer attitudes
The successful performance of the fragrance category does not come as a surprise, considering that these are some of the luxury beauty products U.S. consumers were more likely to purchase, as stated by 27 percent of participants in a survey. Results from a different survey also showed that, in 2023, nearly 70 percent of millennials were willing to spend more on high-end luxury beauty items. When it comes to affluent consumers, 32 percent indicated in 2024 that they spent between 326 and 650 U.S. dollars on prestige cosmetics during a three-month period.The prestige/luxury beauty is a successful sector of the beauty industry, and many consumers in the United States are willing to invest in such products. Although forecasts show that its growth will not be stopped, this market has recently been experiencing a slowdown, specifically in some countries in Asia, but also in North America and Europe. Several factors have contributed to this slowdown, including the high competitiveness in the market and the even higher cost of living leading consumers to resist price hikes.
