Dermocosmetics are gaining strength

In 2023, the dermocosmetics market in Poland grew at a rate of nearly 14% year-over-year, surpassing 3 billion PLN, according to the latest PMR report titled “The Dermocosmetics market in Poland 2024.” PMR forecasts indicate that from 2024 to 2029, the market’s real growth rate will be higher throughout the entire forecast period than observed in 2023. This increase will be influenced, among other factors, by a slowdown in the rate of price growth and consumer behavior stimulating demand.

2023 strengthened consumer trends

Just a year ago, it seemed that Poles would reduce their purchases of luxury goods, including dermocosmetics. However, 2023 showed that in the face of rising prices, we do not skimp on health, including the purchase of dermocosmetics. Although the number of units sold did not increase significantly, the value of sales grew by nearly 14% year-over-year, surpassing the 3 billion PLN mark (including both pharmacy and non-pharmacy sales). Inflation played a significant role in this substantial market growth.

Additionally, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including a holistic approach to health and body care, positively influences the sales of dermocosmetics.

The growth of dermocosmetics sales is also supported by demographic trends (aging population), epidemiological factors such as a potential increase in the incidence of skin allergies, and other factors like the increasing pace of life and stress, which cause various skin problems.

The results of the PMR study confirm that dermocosmetics are still strongly associated with pharmacies by consumers and are primarily purchased there. However, it is worth noting the decrease in the indication of stationary pharmacies as a purchase channel from 2016 to 2023 (from 82% to 66%). This is related to the dynamic growth of online sales (with a significant impact from online pharmacies) as well as the broad distribution of these products in selected drugstore and cosmetic store chains, where the promotion of these products can reach a much larger scale.

An increasing share of the cosmetic market belongs to dermocosmetics

The sale of dermocosmetics accounts for an increasingly larger portion of the cosmetic market in Poland. In 2023, there was also an increase in the share of dermocosmetics sales in the retail cosmetic market. In the coming years, we forecast a further gradual increase in this share. The reason is the still low penetration of dermocosmetics in both brick-and-mortar and online drugstores. This situation is undoubtedly influenced by the previously mentioned changes in consumer behavior, including the change in the place of purchase for dermocosmetics.

It is worth noting that over the past 10 years, dermocosmetics reached the highest share in the value of the pharmacy market for over-the-counter drugs and non-drug products in 2016 (9.9%). In the following years, this share decreased as the growth rate of dermocosmetic sales was lower than that of over-the-counter products. This was due to relatively low price increases and the category “moving out” of the pharmacy channel. In 2023, we observed a high price increase in the dermocosmetics market in Poland, which also translated into an increase in the share of these products in over-the-counter sales in pharmacies.

Find comprehensive information about the current state of the Polish dermocosmetics market in the PMR report:

Dermocosmetics market in Poland 2024. Market analysis and development forecasts for 2024-2029.

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Marta Marszałek

Senior Pharma & Healthcare Market Analyst