A new report on the global luxury market notes that spending in 2024 has been “relatively flat” compared with 2023, with the Chinese mainland experiencing a far steeper drop in transactions than most.
According to US-headquartered management consultancy Bain & Company, the personal luxury goods market could be in the middle of its first slowdown since the 2007 to 2008 global financial crisis (excluding the years of the Covid-19 pandemic). It is shrinking at an overall rate of 2 percent at current exchange rates when compared with last year.
“Fifty million luxury consumers have either opted out of the luxury goods market or been forced out of it in the last two years,” said the firm’s global fashion and luxury practice head, Claudia D’Arpizio.
Bain noted the downward trend was “particularly acute” among Generation Z, and painted a woebegone picture of mainland China’s luxury market – which is expected to have declined by between 20 and 22 percent this year, compared with 2023, the South China Morning Post reported.
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“Mainland China has experienced a sharp slowdown, worsening throughout the year as domestic spending decreased due to lacklustre consumer confidence and Chinese touristic outflows to nearby areas and Europe,” the release stated.
In contrast, Japan is the world’s fastest growing luxury market due to favourable currency rates and surges in spending during the first half of the year. It is expected to see year-on-year growth of up to 13 percent.
Bain said that the market was expected to improve slightly in 2025, but noted that the outcome was “highly dependent on the unfolding macroeconomic scenarios in key regions.”
It added: “Looking toward 2030, the market will likely embark on a long-term positive trajectory, with an increasingly addressable consumer base.”
