As COVID-19 continues to have a negative impact across the world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted the global economy to shrink by nearly 5% in June 2020—1.9% lower than the decline of 3.0% predicted in April 2020. One of the many industries damaged by the pandemic: personal care. While many personal care products are essential, others are not, along with products for which consumers will make alternate choices. In addition, demand for personal care ingredients will also be impacted, as ingredient demand will closely follow product consumption trends.
However, the impact is expected to vary from one product category to another. For example, demand for personal care products such as soaps, hand and body lotions, and hand sanitizers is expected to grow during the pandemic as the importance of hygiene increases. On the other hand, demand for personal care products such as hair coloring products or hair styling products are expected to decline.
The antimicrobials category, which includes preservatives, is essential and used in all types of personal care products. Thus, antimicrobials are expected to face average impact due to COVID-19. This also makes antimicrobials one of the most resilient ingredient categories among all personal care ingredient categories.
Moreover, over the next few years, trends seen so far in the use of antimicrobials in personal care products are expected to reverse or slow down due to COVID-19. For example, it is expected that trends that were gaining speed—such as preservative-free personal care products—are expected to slow as consumers look to buy personal care products that can keep them safe from COVID-19. The shift from conventional antimicrobials such as DMDMH or parabens is also expected to slow. At the same time, research on finding alternatives for conventional antimicrobials will be set back, as both ingredient suppliers and formulators will face difficult financial situations.
Subscribe to Kline’s Personal Care Ingredients: Antimicrobials study to gain understanding of the antimicrobial ingredients used in personal care formulations, their consumption and supply, and the drivers and restraints affecting their growth. To gain more insights on the demand for personal care ingredients and our forecasts, please read our recently published article COVID-19: Beauty Ingredients Face a Challenging Road Ahead.
