According to new figures from The NPD Group, the US prestige beauty industry outperformed Europe in 2012, which has been hit by sales declines across most of its key markets as a result of ongoing economic hardship.
The US market posted a 7% gain in 2012, generating $10.2bn, compared to a 11% increase in 2011. Growth was driven primarily by skin care, which came to $3.4bn, followed by make-up, which posted $3.8bn in sales, and fragrance at $2.9bn.
Europe, on the other hand, saw skin care sales drop by 2% with some pockets of growth in the face, body, and sun care segments. Driven by the strong sales in the UK, make-up was the only category to see an overall growth of 2% throughout Europe.
Overall, the UK prestige beauty market saw a 5% gain in 2012 to $3.4bn, while France fell 1% to $3.5bn, Italy declined 4% to $2.2bn and Spain fell 7% to $1.6bn in dollar volumes.