French Perfume Sales to World's Most Populated Countries

Nov 30, 2010
Daniel Workman

French Eau de Toilette Sales from Perfume Empire - raindog (Flickr)

This analysis shows that Russia is the second-largest consumer of French perfumes while fragrance sales to Nigeria are growing at the fastest pace.

Famous for fragrance brands including Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, France exported US$4.1 billion worth of perfume around the world in 2009. That amount represents a 9.6% increase in global sales since 2005.

This analysis focuses on French perfume sales in 2009 to the world’s top 12 countries with the highest populations. Based on population statistics from the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, those nations are:

China … 1.33 billion people (19.3% of world’s population)
India … 1.17 billion (17.1%)
United States … 310.2 million (4.5%)
Indonesia … 243 million (3.5%)
Brazil … 201.1 million (2.9%)
Pakistan … 184.4 million (2.7%)
Bangladesh … 156.1 million (2.3%)
Nigeria … 152.2 million (2.2%)
Russia … 139.4 million (2%)
Japan … 126.8 million (1.8%)
Mexico … 112.5 million (1.6%)
Philippines … 99.9 million (1.5%).

The 6-digit prefix of the harmonized tariff schedule code for perfumes and toilet waters is 3303.00.

French Eau de Toilette Sales in 2009

Below are perfume export sales during 2009 from France to the top 12 most heavily populated countries.

United States … US$429.5 million worth of French perfumes (down 9.4% since 2005)
Russian Federation … $109.6 million (up 4.6%)
Brazil … $38.8 million (up 38.7%)
Japan … $44.9 million (down 21.3%)
Mexico … $32.8 million (up 19.9%)
China … $17.8 million (up 107.5%)
India … $9.7 million (up 65.7%)
Nigeria … $5.8 million (up 117.4%)
Philippines … $1.9 million (up 31.9%)
Indonesia … $1.9 million (down 54.5%)
Bangladesh … $1.2 million (down 58.5%).
Pakistan … $1.1 million (down 40.8%)

In total, French perfume sales to these countries totaled $695 million or 16.9% of France’s global fragrance exports in 2009.

French eau de toilette exports to Nigeria rose by the highest percentage. And even though the world’s most populated country finished sixth among importers of French perfume, Chinese purchases of fragrances from France posted the second-highest gain.

Led by Russia, Brazil and Mexico, 5 of the top 7 customers for French perfume were developing countries. Sales of fragrances from France were up in all 5 of those nations, led by China’s 107.5% sales gain. Russia had the lowest increase at 4.6%.

Net Weight of Exports from the Perfume Empire

The United Nations COMTRADE database from which the above statistics were sourced also provides the total net weight of French exported perfumes in kilograms. Note that one kilogram equals 35.274 ounces.

United States … 11.9 million kilograms of imported French perfume
Russian Federation … 2.2 million kilograms
Brazil … 1.4 million kilograms
Japan …1.3 million kilograms
Mexico … 1.1 million kilograms
China … 403,300 kilograms
India … 272,500 kilograms
Nigeria … 97,200 kilograms
Indonesia … 55,300 kilograms
Philippines … 29,000 kilograms
Bangladesh … 24,400 kilograms
Pakistan … 19,800 kilograms.

Prices for Imported French Perfumes by Country

We then divide the total value of imported French perfume by its net weight for each country. This allows us to calculate and compare the average prices per kilogram for perfume bought from France.

Philippines … US$65.59 per kilogram of imported French perfume
Nigeria … $59.16 per kilogram
Pakistan … $56.56 per kilogram
Russian Federation … $48.89 per kilogram
Bangladesh … $48.80 per kilogram
China … $44.06 per kilogram
United States … $35.97 per kilogram
India … $35.67 per kilogram
Indonesia … $34.34 per kilogram
Japan … $33.89 per kilogram
Mexico … $30.93 per kilogram
Brazil … $28.05 per kilogram.

For all 12 countries in this study, the average price of imported French perfume was $36.87 per kilogram in 2009. The highest prices per kilogram were paid by 3 countries among the bottom 6 importers of fragrances from France (Philippines, Nigeria and Pakistan).

Brazil and Mexico enjoyed the lowest unit costs. This may explain why Brazilian imports of French fragrances were up 38.7% while Mexican purchases gained 19.9% during 2009.

Sources: This analysis presents independent calculations and insights based on the United States International Trade Commission’s Interactive Tariff and Trade Dataweb, United Nations COMTRADE database, DESA/UNSD and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2010).