With growing sales and export figures, Italian cosmetics companies continue to experience a steady improvement in the post recession era. Philippa Brangam reports on the market, consumption and consumer trends
The international uncertainty of the last couple of years has impacted heavily on the economies of Europe. And Italy is no exception. Its economy continued to shrink throughout 2011 and contracted even further, by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2012, according to figures from Eurostat. However despite these tensions the Italian cosmetics market continued to grow. Provisional data released by the official cosmetics trade body Unipro showed that the Italian beauty industry performed well in 2011. The overall turnover of cosmetics made in Italy neared €9bn, up 4.6% on 2010.