With the mandatory wearing of masks long gone in 2022 and the inflationary shock affecting the cost of product sales, the beauty industry’s turnover “overcame” the €1 billion milestone last year (in retail prices) and bounced back. at pre-pandemic levels, which means a 6.4% increase compared to 2021. After the lifting of the measures, the Greeks again turned to cosmetics, with sales up 16.5% in 2022, according to revised data from the Panhellenic Association of Cosmetics and Perfumes. This is the category that, together with fragrances, posted the biggest increase in sales compared to the previous year.

However, despite the lifting of measures, the inflationary crisis has changed consumer behavior. As reported in the link a few months ago, the share of cheaper cosmetics has recently increased, while many categories of cosmetics are receiving price increases. There is still a strong demand for body care products, which form the basis of the choice of Greek consumers, while sales of hair care products are also growing. In the first case, sales last year were 411.6 million euros from 395 million euros in 2021 (+4.2%), while sales of hair products were 282.2 million euros from 274 million euros in 2021, an increase of 3 %. Perfume sales reached 118.6 million euros from 101.8 million euros in 2021 (+16.5%), while sales of personal care products reached 109.3 million euros in 2022 from 106.6 million euros in 2021 (+ 2.5%). “Sales progress is satisfactory and we are approaching 2019 numbers. But, of course, part of the growth is inflationary,” refers to “K” an industry representative who supports a well-known cosmetics chain.