Nice Weather for Sun Cream Manufacturers

Temperatures in the UK reached near-record levels yesterday leaving unaccustomed Brits gasping, but some of us are enjoying it, and according to the latest from Datamonitor the sun cream market is recovering from a slump last year. Worldwide sales are also expected to rise.

The UK market for suncare products, in terms of volumes sold per head, was the 13th largest in the world in 2002 according to Datamonitor. Market size grew in 2001 by 9.6%, but shrank again in 2002 by 6.7% (if you have to ask why it's a volatile market, you're obviously not a regular visitor). This year, Datamonitor has forecast market growth of 3.2%, but this is likely to be revised upwards in the light of the current hot weather.

The UK's ranking for sales per person is a long way ahead of Germany in 26th position and Australia in 24th, but has actually slipped back since 1997 due to rising demand in countries such as Portugal and Greece, many of whose sales are to British tourists. As John Band, author of the Datamonitor report puts it, 'The market for suncare products is unusual'.

Spain's no.1 ranking is therefore no shock - sun cream sales may boom with the combination of hot weather and people who are not totally used to it. 'Australia is a good example' according to Band: 'Australians are certainly aware of skin cancer risks, but instead of putting on sun block they keep out of the sun'. Some 170 ml (millilitres) of suncare products were sold for every person in Spain in 2002, compared to 80ml in France and 70ml in the UK.

The report forecasts that by 2007, people will be using even more sun cream. 'As global temperatures rise, and as skin cancer becomes an ever-more important consideration in tourists' minds, people's behaviour will continue to change', says Band. Total British spending is expected to rise to £221 million, compared with £176 million in 2002 - an average rise of 4.1% per annum.

The number of malignant melanoma cases, the most serious cancer of the skin, is also predicted to rise - by 9.5% between 2002 and 2010, to over 6,000 cases. Melanoma is the most rapidly increasing cancer threat in terms of the number of new cases - in the US and Australia the number has more than doubled in the past 20 years, whilst Britain has the second highest number of cases in Europe.

Nevertheless, we still have a guy who wears Bacofoil and stands very still in Leicester Square for a living. Watch out for the mad dogs too...

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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