China is on line to surpass Japan as the second-biggest consumer of luxury goods over the next five years – and that will happen despite a slowdown in sales of luxury items, says market research company Euromonitor.
First of all, however, China will experience a short-term drop in sales due to a slowing rise in GDP and the government's anti-corruption drive which has battered sales of high-end products.
“Luxury sales in China have increased by $9.6 billion in the last five years and aside from the US, the top luxury market in the world with $18.6 billion in sales, no other market came even close to that growth,” said Fflur Roberts, Euromonitor’s head of luxury goods research.
“However, this impressive growth fizzled towards the end of 2013, leading many luxury brands to question their strategy for China and other emerging markets.”
China is seen rising to rise to second place in global luxury sales by 2019 due to an estimated 64-percent surge in disposable income which will contribute to a 52-percent jump in luxury spending in real terms over the next five years, according to Euromonitor.
The group also forecasts a 4-percent rise in luxury goods growth in China this year, and an increase of 6 percent next year, compared with a 2.5-percent increase last year.
