As consumers grow more cautious, understanding shifts in global income and expenditure is essential for future-focused strategic planning. Businesses must adapt to evolving purchasing power and spending patterns to uncover actionable growth opportunities. With robust income gains anticipated across emerging markets, particularly in Asia, proactive strategies will be crucial.

Off-trade sales of soft drinks were stagnating at a regional level in Western Europe in 2024, given the declines being seen in some of the biggest country markets like Germany and France. In addition to the maturity in major categories like bottled water and carbonates, the cost-of-living crisis due to high inflation in recent years has been putting pressure on consumer spending power. Nevertheless, health and wellness continues to play an ever increasing role in Western European soft drinks.

The volume performance improved in the Western European hot drinks market in 2024, albeit still remaining marginally negative. Although inflation has eased, prices continue to rise, negatively impacting volume sales, but boosting the value performance. The health and wellness trend continues to drive sales of fruit/herbal tea, while fresh coffee beans was another product defying the general gloom surrounding much of the industry at the end of the review period.

After the pandemic resulted in a spike in demand for retail sales of cooking ingredients and meals in Western Europe in 2020, the volume performance was subsequently hit by high inflation in 2022 and 2023, favouring discounters and private label in a number of markets. With inflation easing in 2024, performances were generally improving. Positive, if modest, growth is expected in Western Europe over the forecast period.

There was a definite spike in retail sales of staple foods in 2020 due to COVID-19 and its various restrictions, but volumes had been declining since then, not least given the rebound in foodservice sales in 2021 and the inflationary environment in more recent years. As inflation eased, modest growth was recorded in both volume and real value terms in Western Europe in 2024, with more of the same expected in the coming years.

Cough and cold remedies were particularly badly affected by the pandemic in 2020, with consumers locked down a lot at home and wearing masks when out and about in public, while overall consumer health sales were also hit by rising costs and prices, depressing consumer purchasing power, in 2023. However, with growth in the other years of 2019-2024, Western European consumer health was able to post a positive CAGR for the overall period in real value terms.

There were disappointing performances in both the on- and off-trade in Western Europe in 2023, with industry players and consumers still struggling in the face of high inflation and rising costs or prices. In addition, there is a growing trend towards non-alcoholic products in beer, wine and spirits, especially among younger people (of legal drinking age). Modest on-trade growth and near stagnation in the off-trade are currently expected over the forecast period.

All the main parameters in the travel industry had returned to their pre-pandemic levels by the end of the 2019-2024 period, representing a full recovery from the damage wrought by the COVID-19 restrictions. Indeed, overtourism is a theme that has now begun rearing its head again, as government agencies and travel industry players look to reduce seasonality in overcrowded destinations like Venice to try and spread demand more evenly across the whole year.

New manufacturing hubs are driving supply chain diversification efforts. However, these countries still depend on imports of Chinese components, making supply chains longer and more complex. Challenges like insufficient production capacity and lack of supporting industries continue to impede supply chain diversification. Despite this, the situation could improve over the next decade due to large FDI inflows and investments in trade infrastructure.

While glass accounts for only around a tenth of overall packaging unit volumes in Western Europe, it is responsible for 70% of alcoholic drinks packaging. Glass bottles make up two thirds of beer packaging and dominate in wine and spirits. While glass continues to lose share to other pack types, including metal beverage cans and rigid plastic, the recyclable and often premium nature of glass will help to broadly maintain its usage levels.

Connected and autonomous vehicles are becoming more widespread, reflecting the automotive industry's digital and technological shift. This report sizes the autonomous vehicle market, specifying the countries and brands embracing driverless technologies. It also assesses consumer perceptions, expectations and attitudes regarding connected and autonomous technologies. Finally, the report examines the main industries poised to take advantage of the shift to connected and autonomous cars.

Sales of consumer appliances slipped into decline across Western Europe in 2022, and remained there in 2023. In addition to a post-COVID-19 sales correction after the demand spike seen during the pandemic, the economic scenario was a difficult one in 2022-2023, with high inflation and rising energy costs. Further decline is expected in the short term, before growth returns to positive territory in the later years of the forecast period.

Fragrances are gaining relevance among consumers experiencing anxiety and looking for emotional wellness. Fragrances, however, face many challenges, as they compete with aromatherapy and other sensory options. Fragrances are closely associated with emotions, but there is room for innovation in neuroscience-based fragrances. Beyond claims, fragrances’ role in emotional wellbeing is about the revival of memories, nostalgia and gourmand scents able to trigger positive emotions.

Skin health positioning in fragrances is an under-penetrated space. Trending claims address skin sensitivity, but consumers are likely to demand more substantiated, specific claims. Skin health claims are significant drivers of the fragrance consumer journey in Western Europe and Southeast Asia, while consumers in North America and the Middle East and Africa are also receptive. Emerging formats make up a small piece of the market, but are well-poised to grow as players look to expand product var

Holistic wellness in pet health is becoming more sophisticated than ever. As needs become more nuanced, expected benefits are becoming more specific. This report explores how pet life stage nutrition offers opportunities for targeting stage-specific needs, the role claims and ingredients play in communicating benefits, the role tech can play, and how learning from human health trends can show the way forward for pet health trends.

After the pandemic-induced demand spike, sales of toys and games recorded a marked decline in Western Europe in 2022, with stagnation being seen in 2023. Most countries have been impacted by high inflation, putting pressure on local consumers’ purchasing power. In addition, there were some supply chain problems in 2022, although these had largely been solved moving into 2023. Another year of stagnation is expected for 2024, before a return to positive growth is seen for toys and games from 2025.

The briefing explores structural drivers of inflation and their impact on the global economy and business environment. Factors such as demographics changes, globalisation reset, decarbonisation, AI revolution and higher debt levels would add to the higher price pressures. Companies will need to monitor and adapt to the changing macro environment.

Ecosystem partnerships is a critical factor for rapid scaling of leading digital wallets globally. Key usage factors are convenience, enhanced security and wide merchant acceptance. The short term focus includes cross-border transactions and card-to-QR payment, while mid-to-long term priorities cover personalisation and biometric-powered payment without phones. The report also identifies key wallets-as-a-service providers for building digital wallets, recommendations are given for vendor search.

After contending with the pandemic, Western Europe emerged into a period of high inflation, with rates hitting levels not seen for decades in many of the region’s countries. This, in turn, set off a cost-of-living crisis for many consumers, dampening demand in the home and garden market in the final years of the review period. The difficult economic backdrop, combined with ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, are also clouding the outlook for the start of the forecast period.

The briefing explores trends in the global structure amid rising economic and geopolitical uncertainty. As global economy evolves, countries and companies will need to find ways to diversify the supply of critical components. This will require establishing new trade routes and striking the right balance between operational security and cost efficiency.

In spite of inflation still hitting consumer spending power in 2023, the tissue and hygiene market was recording positive growth in real value terms in this year. However, price sensitivity has seen a trend towards rising shares for private label in many of the region’s countries. Nevertheless, players have continued to introduce more sustainable products to appeal to eco-conscious consumers,, such as bamboo-based toilet paper or fully compostable nappies/diapers.

The Western European pet care market performed strongly during the pandemic, with pet adoption levels up and owners spending more time with their pets during home seclusion. However, the high inflation in the region was putting pressure on consumers’ purchasing power from 2022, negatively impacting volume sales in recent years. Nevertheless, the premiumisation and pet humanisation trends are helping to drive value sales in pet care, which is expected to continue over the forecast period.

The report examines the global landscape of EV charging, comparing its development against the rising uptake of EVs. It then takes a deep dive into EV charging trends across select major economies, delving into the competitive landscape and geographic distribution of EV charge points. Finally, it identifies the strategies, innovations and challenges facing the EV charging industry.

This briefing assesses global B2B market trends in 2024 and beyond. It is geared towards consumer goods companies that are selling into the B2B market, and provides insights into how B2B markets are developing, which countries and channels to target, as well as how to navigate the potential challenges and what is next for B2B.