Personal care wipes market to reach USD12.5 bn by 2024

Like all consumer markets, personal care wipes are undergoing a paradigm shift in their retail landscape. The simplest characterisation is the ongoing shift from brick-and-mortar selling to online selling or eCommerce.

Smithers' latest market report, The Future of Personal Care Wipes in a Changing Retail Landscape to 2024 forecasts that in 2019, personal care wipes consumed 7,63,700 tonnes, or 16.2 billion sqm of nonwovens, valued at USD9.3 billion in retail sales. By 2024, this is projected to reach one million tonnes, or 23 billion sqm of nonwovens, and a value of $12.5 billion.

With shifts in end-use demands increasing across the five years to 2024, the report identified the following key drivers and trends for the global personal care wipes industry today:

Sustainability: In 2019, there are multiple levels of sustainability driving personal care wipes – to reduce/eliminate plastics waste, to use all-natural ingredients, and to use biodegradable materials.

Nonwoven supply and demand: One of the most important drivers for wipes over the next five years will be the oversupply of high-quality nonwovens for the wipes market. This will result in lower prices and accelerated product development as nonwovens producers attempt to sell this oversupply, the report stated.

Current, near-term and long-term global economy impact: Consumers tend to revert to the lowest-cost options – paper or cloth scraps replacing wipes, or baby wipes replacing higher-price speciality wipes – in times of economic hardship. Thus, any future economic downturn will have a major negative impact on the personal care wipes market, it stated.

Performance requirements and developments: Wipes performance continues to improve, some to the point of passing from luxury to requirement. For example, flushable wipes originally were not dispersible and were not very good at cleaning. But, these products have improved to the point now that many consumers cannot do without them. Even if government agencies try to outlaw them, it is expected that many consumers would revert to using fewer dispersible wipes rather than do without.

Smithers' report defines this burgeoning sector by end-use segment, region, nonwoven product type, and raw materials used.

To contextualise this rapid growth, Smithers analyses the changing retail landscape for these wipes, reviewing current brand owners, suppliers, retailers, business models, and supply chains; within a growing global nonwovens market.