Yesterday (February 27), with the release of Beiersdorf’s financial report, the world’s leading cosmetics groups have all presented their 2024 performance reports.
For most beauty companies, 2024 has been a rather challenging year. Over the past year, major international beauty companies have frequently implemented measures such as layoffs, divestitures, and leadership changes. So, how have the rankings of the world’s top ten beauty companies changed in 2024? What new patterns are emerging?
$349.67 billion, a 2.8% increase
According to Beiersdorf’s financial report, the group achieved a sales revenue of €9.85 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. Among this, the consumer division, which includes the beauty business, generated €8.162 billion in sales, a 4.9% increase year-on-year. This strong performance also helped the group maintain its position in the top ten global beauty companies.
Additionally, CHAILEEDO statistics revealed that after divesting non-cosmetics businesses, the ranking of the world’s top ten cosmetics companies in 2024 saw new changes. Overall, from January to December 2024, the total sales of the top ten global beauty companies amounted to $349.67 billion, marking a 2.78% year-on-year growth.
In terms of overall rankings, L’Oréal remains the largest global beauty group, with sales of $45.173 billion, maintaining a significant lead, surpassing the second-place Unilever by $17.36 billion. Among these ten companies, only L’Oréal and Unilever exceeded $20 billion in sales, while the remaining eight companies had sales below $20 billion.
Notably, of the ten companies, only Procter & Gamble and Kenvue saw slight declines in sales, with decreases of 1.1% and 0.7% respectively. The other eight companies all reported year-on-year growth in sales. Among them, Puig showed the highest growth, at 11.3%, while Estée Lauder’s growth was only 0.1%.
The Global Top Ten Beauty Companies Have Some “New Faces”
Comparing the global top ten beauty companies over the past five years, there have been significant changes in both the companies listed and their rankings. Comparing 2020 and 2024, firstly, in terms of the companies on the list, Natura&CO and Kao have dropped off, replaced by Coty and Puig. As for the rankings, L’Oréal and Unilever still firmly hold the top two spots, while Estée Lauder and Procter & Gamble are closely competing for third and fourth.
The changes are more pronounced in the 5th to 10th positions. In 2022, Johnson & Johnson announced the spin-off of its consumer health business, creating Kenvue, which was separately listed. As a result of this split, Kenvue’s ranking dropped (it was 9th in 2022) based on its skin health and beauty, and children’s care businesses. However, after the split was completed in August 2023, Kenvue reorganized into three major divisions: skin health and beauty, basic health, and personal care. Since 2023, with sales from its skin health and beauty (including brands like Neutrogena, Aveeno, and Dr. Ci:Labo) and basic health (including brands like Listerine and Johnson’s Baby) divisions, Kenvue’s ranking has risen back to 5th.
Additionally, LVMH and Beiersdorf have climbed into the “mid-tier” rankings, thanks to three years of continuous growth, moving from the “tail-end” positions five years ago to now being in the middle of the pack. On the other hand, Shiseido’s ranking has dropped from the top five to 8th place, due to sluggish performance in the past two years.
However, compared to 2023, the rankings of the global top ten beauty companies in 2024 have seen minimal change, except for the swap in positions between Estée Lauder and Procter & Gamble, and the addition of Puig. The other companies’ rankings remained the same.
According to public information, Puig Group, a major Spanish beauty and fashion giant, has its business divided into three main sectors: fashion and perfumes, makeup, and skincare, encompassing 17 brands, including well-known beauty brands such as Eau Thermale Avène, Charlotte Tilbury (CT Makeup), and fragrance brands like Penhaligon’s, L’Artisan Parfumeur, and Byredo. According to financial reports, Puig Group’s net revenues in 2023 and 2024 were €4.304 billion and €4.79 billion, respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 19% and 11.3%. Clearly, the fast-growing performance has propelled Puig into the top ten global beauty companies. It is also noteworthy that in the first half of 2024, Puig made its debut on the global top ten beauty companies list, successfully “pushing out” Natura&CO.
Moreover, due to the high proportion of oral care in its business, Colgate-Palmolive Group did not make it into the top ten global cosmetics companies list when only considering personal care. Colgate’s business is divided into two major segments: oral care and personal & home care, along with pet nutrition. Its beauty and personal care segment mainly consists of three skincare brands—PCA SKIN, Filorga, and EltaMD Skin Care—and nine personal care, oral care, and home cleaning brands. Based on the previous annual report’s estimate of about 20% of personal care business, Colgate’s personal care sales in 2024 were below Puig’s, which ranked tenth.
Growth Slows Across the Board, Perfume Business Becomes a “Hot Item”
In fact, it’s clear from the overall performance of the companies in 2024 that, with the exception of Puig— the new member of the top ten, which maintained double-digit growth— the remaining seven companies that recorded growth had growth rates not exceeding 6%.
Moreover, when comparing the global beauty giants themselves, slowing growth has become a common trend. For example, L’Oréal’s sales growth dropped from 11% in 2023 to 5.6% in 2024, Unilever’s growth fell from 8.6% in 2023 to 1.9% in 2024, and LVMH’s growth decreased from 15% in 2023 to 4%.
As a result, the lack of strong growth has raised a “crisis awareness” among global beauty groups. Since the beginning of last year, major beauty giants have been implementing a series of measures such as layoffs, divestitures, and executive changes. According to incomplete statistics from CHAILEEDO, in 2024, at least five of the top ten global beauty companies announced plans for layoffs, three sold off their beauty businesses, and eight companies experienced executive-level personnel changes.
However, amidst the overall slowdown in the global cosmetics industry, the perfume sector has become a key driver for performance growth.
A prime example is Puig, which recorded the highest growth last year. Its perfume and fashion business contributed 73% of the group’s total revenue, with a 13.6% growth, reaching €3.538 billion. Puig also reported that Jean Paul Gaultier, the group’s fastest-growing brand, made its debut in the top 10 perfume rankings, with its flagship product, Le Male, expected to become the third-largest men’s fragrance globally. Another perfume brand, Good Girl by Carolina Herrera, also performed well throughout the year and is expected to maintain its position as the second-largest women’s fragrance brand globally.
Coty’s Burberry perfume, meanwhile, saw a sales increase of over 30% in 2024, and Hugo Boss perfume, fueled by strong momentum, rose to become the second-largest men’s fragrance brand in Europe. Additionally, Marc Jacobs’ Daisy Wild fragrance series, part of the Moschino brand, performed well in the UK, helping the brand achieve mid-single-digit growth in the first half of its 2025 fiscal year.
According to Estée Lauder’s Q2 fiscal report for 2025 (October–December 2024), among the company’s four major business units, only the perfume business saw a 1% increase in net sales, while the performance of the other three divisions was below the previous year’s figures. This indirectly highlights the significant contribution of the perfume business to the company’s overall performance.
Apart from the perfume sector, some brands had particularly outstanding performances in 2024. A typical example is Beiersdorf’s Nivea brand, which achieved €5.601 billion in sales, a 9% year-on-year increase. Interestingly, this brand’s sales even surpassed Puig’s overall performance by nearly €811 million.
Chinese Market “Drags Behind,” Beauty Giants Adjust Their Strategies in China
Another point worth noting is that three years ago, international beauty groups viewed the Chinese market as a growth engine, but now they are generally highlighting the Chinese market in their financial reports, stating that “performance has been poor.”
For instance, in its 2024 financial report, L’Oréal mentioned that, aside from the North Asia market, all other markets experienced growth, and the group saw its first performance decline in China in a decade. In fact, as early as June 2024, L’Oréal CEO Jean-Paul Agon made a rare downward revision of its global beauty market growth forecast, adjusting it from 5% to 4.5%-5%, citing the weakness of the Chinese market as the primary reason for the revision.
Estée Lauder, during its Q2 fiscal report for 2025 (October-December 2024), revealed that net sales in its Asia/Pacific region dropped by as much as 11%. The group pointed out that this was due to the overall challenging retail environment, with a continued decline in consumer purchasing power in China, Korea, and other markets. Estée Lauder CEO Stéphane de La Faverie also stated, “Given the high strategic share the group holds in the premium beauty sector in China, we have been disproportionately impacted.”
It’s clear that the sluggish Chinese market and the downturn in Asian travel retail have become common challenges reflected in the financial reports of the top ten global beauty companies. As a result, last year, several foreign brands gradually exited China or closed stores, including L’Oréal’s NYX, LVMH’s Benefit Cosmetics, and Coty’s Max Factor.
As a result, with the continued changes in the Chinese market, beauty giants are constantly adjusting their operating strategies in China to seek better development. For example, Unilever mentioned in its financial report that, in response to the weakening consumer spending in China, the group is accelerating its product premiumization process and changing its marketing strategies to effectively reach the rapidly growing e-commerce channels and small stores in lower-tier cities. The company expects these changes to show results starting in the second half of 2025.
Shiseido also introduced its premium skincare brand, Dr. Ci:Labo, to the Chinese market last year. However, another premium skincare brand, BAUM, decided to halt product sales in China due to strategic adjustments. Procter & Gamble publicly stated, “The company is adjusting its marketing strategy by heavily investing in the Douyin platform to adapt to the shifts in China’s e-commerce landscape.”
Overall, the global cosmetics market is undergoing a profound wave of transformation, and competition among companies is becoming increasingly fierce. The dynamic changes in the top ten global beauty companies list serve as a mirror, reflecting both the vibrant energy of the industry and the diverse development opportunities.
