The Growth Rate Of China'S Luxury Market Continued To Slow To About 4% In 2013

The market is changing rapidly, and the growth engine of the global luxury market is shifting from the East represented by China to the West and the South, because the growth of the Americas, Southeast Asia and Africa now exceeds that of China, and the growth rate of the latter two is as high as 11%.

According to the latest Global Luxury Report released by the consulting company Bain, the global luxury market is expected to grow by 2% to 217 billion euros in 2013, significantly slower than the growth rate of 10% in 2012.

This is inseparable from the gloom of the Chinese market. Since the financial crisis, the rapidly rising Chinese market has been driving the growth of many luxury brands. However, the emergency braking of the market in the second half of 2012 caused the growth rate of the Chinese luxury market to drop sharply from 30% in 2011 to about 7%.

This year, however, the performance of China's once emerging luxury market is still disappointing. Bain expects that the growth rate of China's luxury market will continue to slow to about 4% in 2013, while the growth rate of mainland China is only 2.5%.

Bain believes that this is because more Chinese consumers are consuming overseas, and the Chinese market has entered the stage of consolidating and strengthening the existing network from the stage of rapid market expansion, especially for the big brands that have entered the Chinese market for several years.

According to statistics, more than half of luxury sales in Europe are contributed by Chinese tourists. According to Bain's estimation, the total luxury consumption of Chinese tourists in the world has been on a par with the entire American luxury market.

"They have well demonstrated the borderless characteristics of the future luxury market. Chinese luxury consumers have accounted for one third of the global luxury buyers, and every market has to find ways to win them." Bain pointed out in the report.

In early October, Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry, warned in an interview with foreign media that the slowdown of China's luxury market might become normal. Although it is clear that China's luxury market is slowing down, Ahrendts still believes that China's position as a major luxury consumer is still unshakable.

Ahrendts also pointed out that for the luxury industry, there are other growth points besides China, such as Latin America and Indonesia. Those developing countries with strong stamina are "new China".

Compared with the increasingly bleak Chinese luxury market, Bain found that Southeast Asia is becoming a new luxury consumption growth engine in Asia. Luxury brands have opened more stores in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, and tourist consumption from Southeast Asia is also growing.

In addition, Africa is also rising to the top of the global growth of many luxury brands, and the growth range is expanding from the core markets of South Africa and Morocco to Nigeria and other countries. Bain predicted that the luxury market in Southeast Asia and Africa will grow by 11% in 2013.