Italy’s make-up and men's beauty products a hit in USA

In 2016, the USA was the third-largest foreign market for made-in-Italy beauty products, after France and Germany, generating cosmetics exports worth €406 million, up 24.4% compared to 2015. Beauty product exports to the USA accounted for 87.6% of all of Italy’s cosmetics exports to the NAFTA area, which also includes Canada and Mexico.

Italian make-up products are big in America
According to 2016 figures provided by Cosmetica Italia at the Cosmoprof North America trade fair, held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas with the same successful format which show organiser BolognaFiere has exported worldwide, Italian make-up is a best-seller on the US market. Italian make-up exports to the USA are worth over €106 million, equivalent to 27% of Italian beauty exports to the country.

Besides make-up, Italian fragrances are also highly popular in the USA, with exports for €97 million, and so are body care products, worth over €95 million in exports and up 50.5% over the previous year. Specifically, the strongest growth rate was posted by men's cosmetics - a worldwide macro trend - with shaving products topping the best-seller list, while also foundations, skincare creams, soaps, nail products and toothpaste performed strongly.

The Las Vegas event, one of North America's and the USA's major cosmetics fairs, was attended by 47 Italian manufacturers, 14 of them grouped together in the Professional Beauty area and all supported by Cosmetica Italy, the national cosmetics industry association.

"While global [cosmetics] demand grows by just over 4% - said Fabio Rossello, the President of Cosmetica Italia, speaking at Cosmoprof North America - Italian exports rose by more than 12%. On the US market too, the growth rate of Italian cosmetics producers is stronger than domestic demand. (...) A well-structured product range, customer service that's always reliable and flexibility are the elements that have made [our] companies stand out over the years. Recent studies on the cosmetics industry have also shown [they have] a consolidated financial statement position that is much more positive than the national average, proof that their business health isn't haphazard, with a solid medium term perspective."

How much are the Italian and European cosmetics industry worth?
In 2016, the revenue of the Italian cosmetics market was €10.5 billion. The beauty industry accounts for 0.6% of the total value of the wealth produced in the country, and its exports are 1.0% of Italy's total exports. Sales abroad play an essential role, with exports growing by more than 12% (equivalent to €4.3 billion), producing a trade surplus of €2.3 billion.

The Italian cosmetics industry in its broadest sense, from ingredients to packaging and finished products, is worth more than €15 billion, and its estimated growth in 2017 will be 4.5%.

This makes Italy Europe's fourth-largest beauty market after Germany, the UK and France, while Europe as a whole remains the world's largest aggregate market, worth €77 billion.