Luxury sales pick up in Americas

Luxury goods sales this year are expected to outpace last year's in real terms, with the Americas overtaking China as the leading growth engine, according to consultancy Bain & Co.

The consultancy, whose forecasts are closely followed by the industry, said in a study released this week that worldwide sales of personal luxury goods would rise 6 per cent at constant exchange rates this year, higher than the 4 to 5 per cent it had forecast in May and the 5 per cent rise seen last year.

The growth rate would be only 2 per cent at current exchange rates, mainly due to the impact of the devaluation of the yen.

The worldwide market in luxury clothing, watches, perfumes, cosmetics, jewellery and accessories such as belts, ties and shoes was set to be worth €217 billion (HK$2.3 trillion) this year, Bain said.

With 4 per cent sales growth forecast in the Americas this year, they were beating a slowing mainland Chinese domestic market, even though Chinese consumers worldwide represented 29 per cent of luxury consumers this year - the single biggest group of buyers - as they shopped more abroad, Bain said. The mainland market would grow just 2.5 per cent at current exchange rates this year, down from 20 per cent last year, it said, as it became a "mature market".

Countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia were now the main growth drivers in Asia, Bain said, with sales up 11 per cent this year following growth of 20 per cent last year.