British beauty industry to outpace France as it celebrates continued growth

The British beauty industry grew by 11% last year, growing faster than other European markets as new figures show it could even overtake France by the end of 2025.

Increasing sales of skincare products and fragrance combined with the success of British brands mean the UK market is growing at nearly twice the pace of France, according to new data seen by The Times.

If this growth continues, the British market is expected to exceed the size of the French by the end of next year. The UK beauty industry is already bigger than those in Germany, Italy and Spain.

The prestige beauty market remains buoyant, with many of the world's biggest beauty companies continuing to invest in the sector.

Data released by market-research firm Circana shows that sales of luxury or prestige makeup, fragrance, skincare and haircare products in the UK increased by almost 11% to £1.53 billion in the year to June.

By comparison, the French market, which has long been the pre-eminent and most prestigious in Europe, grew by 6% to £1.62 billion.

While many shoppers have cut back on non-essential spending during the cost-of-living crisis, Brits are continuing to splurge on prestige beauty - offering an attractive opportunity for beauty brands and retailers as consumers continue to spend in this category.

Launched in 2019, Victoria Beckham Beauty is known for its range of prestige makeup, skincare and fragrance products.

Prestige beauty brands usually have products that contain higher quality ingredients, packaging, and by default are a little pricier than mass brands. This sector has traditionally been dominated by French firms, such as Chanel, Dior and YSL, but is being challenged more and more by British brands, including those launched by celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Rita Ora and Trinny Woodhall, amongst others.

The British Beauty Council, an organisation that represents the UK beauty industry, advocating for its growth and development, also attributes the success of the UK market to suppliers creating new and innovative products, the impact of beauty influencers, and Britain being a "global leader" in sustainable beauty and product safety.

Caroline Hirons, who began her career on beauty counters, and has gone on to become one of the industry's most pre-eminent experts, launched Skin Rocks in 2022.

It added that Britain’s beauty influencers, such as Caroline Hirons, have built up large followings by sharing their beauty expertise on social media, as well as creating their own brands. Some of Britain's most successful beauty brands, including Charlotte Tilbury and Pat McGrath, also drive growth through their founder-led approach.

The British Beauty Council told TheIndustry.beauty: "We are witnessing fast growth within the prestige skincare and beauty products category. The UK saw a 10.8% rise compared to the average of 8.7% for the four biggest EU economies. Couple this with the 11% growth seen across the whole sector, and the forecast for stability, we can only imagine the UK might be in competition with the leading market in prestige beauty, France."

Sales reached £27.2 billion last year for both products and services - close to the pre-covid average of £28 billion, according to the British Beauty Council’s latest Value of Beauty report.

Couple the labour taxes paid by the sector with taxes collected via indirect and induced channels, and the industry's contribution is also large enough to fund 86% of the annual total expenditure by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

In addition, growth in employment increased by 10% across the industry, supporting a workforce of more than 603,000 people.

Millie Kendall OBE, Chief Executive Officer at the British Beauty Council, hailed the findings as a tribute to the hard work, dynamism and versatile nature of the industry and its workers.

She also called on the government to ease access to the EU which, post-Brexit, had put a £850 million drop in exports.

"We have almost returned to our 2019 peak economically, despite structural and economic challenges," added Kendall.

"I think our resilience (given the triple whammy) is evident. We have had to pivot in terms of export, we are a nation that has been quietly growing in this sector and we have some of the biggest brands globally. Couple this with our multicultural society and we have an industry that is increasingly aware of global beauty trends and how to adapt to them."

The news comes as the council targets further growth and positive change within the British beauty industry, having previously launched an industry-wide census to find out what beauty means to its workers and consumers, marking the biggest research project in its history.

The survey, which launched earlier this year, urged over half a million workers in the sector to have their say on the industry. Following a three-month data collection period, the results will be presented at British Beauty Week 2024.