China’s Personal Luxury Market Grew 36% Last Year Despite Covid-19

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China’s personal luxury market saw double-digit growth in 2021 despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, as well as social and economic challenges, according to a report released Thursday.

Last year, Chinese consumers spent nearly 471 billion yuan (US$74.3 billion) on personal luxury goods, which include luxury apparel, shoes, beauty products, jewelry, and other categories, but not travel and experiences. That’s a 36% increase from 2020, according to the report by Bain & Company, a global management consultancy headquartered in Boston.

Compared to 2019, China’s personal luxury market nearly doubled as consumers spent more domestically due to international travel restrictions, the report said.   

Globally, China’s share of the luxury market grew from about 20% in 2020 to approximately 21% in 2021, according to Bruno
Lannes,
partner at Bain & Co.and co-author of the report. 

“We anticipate this growth to continue, putting the country on track to become the world’s largest luxury goods market by 2025—regardless of future international travel patterns,” Lannes said in the report.

Online shopping and the establishment of an offshore duty-free zone in Hainan, an island province in South China, also contributed to the strong growth, the report said.

In 2021, China’s online luxury sales grew nearly 56%, compared to a 30% growth rate for offline sales. Hainan’s duty-free stores saw sales nearly double from 2020 to 2021, reaching nearly 60 billion yuan. 

In terms of the luxury goods category, leather goods saw the fastest growth, at 60% year over year, followed by fashion and lifestyle at about 40% each, according to the report, which did not provide the total sales of the categories.

Meanwhile, jewelry spending increased 35%, while high-end watch and luxury beauty spending rose about 30% and 20%, respectively.