With tissue and hygiene experiencing a further shift from price-led growth to volume recovery, the lingering cost-of-living crisis reinforces affordability as a central theme. Businesses need to benchmark growth and sharpen their portfolio against geographical and demographic characteristics across categories, consumer preferences, and natural adjacent lifecycle needs to be better positioned in a still challenging environment.
Delivery
This report comes in PPT.
Key Findings
Volume to play a larger role in the total growth equation
Growth across categories of global tissue and hygiene has been primarily price-driven since the end of the pandemic, with volume seeing a setback. However, as persistent price pressure alienates price-sensitive consumers, players take a divergence approach to boost value-tier brands, reintroducing promotion and balancing affordability and innovation for premium shoppers.
Emerging global south becomes a key frontier
Global tissue and hygiene expects value and volume expansion to be increasingly dominated by rapidly expanding but low per capita consumption markets in Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa and parts of Latin America. Western Europe and North America see volume growth stabilise to stagnation, as maturity and the shift to private label have curbed topline consumption.
Growing brand fragmentation further erodes top players' leadership
The long-term dominance of major multinationals like Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark is being challenged like never before. On the one hand, value-focused, highly localised brands in emerging markets are gaining share in both the commoditised tissue sector and high-margin nappies/diapers and menstrual care. On the other hand, premium, influencer-led independent launches now have outsized reach through e-commerce marketplaces.
Fertility transition leads a growth shift from nappies/diapers to adult incontinence
While nappies/diapers made up a quarter of total retail tissue and hygiene’s absolute nominal value sales gains in 2024, driven by a shift towards disposable pants and further penetration in, notably, Middle East and Africa, adult incontinence will lead forecast growth, underpinned by the ageing trend and its accelerated transition towards a lifestyle-orientated wellness segment.
Digital retail especially marketplaces as rising battlefield
E-commerce is the only distribution channel for retail tissue and hygiene that has changed significantly in recent years, increasing its share of the total retail market from 11% in 2019 to 18% in 2024. Marketplaces have been key in scaling e-commerce growth in retail tissue and hygiene, strengthening online penetration for many.
This is the aggregation of retail and away-from home tissue and disposable hygiene products as well as Rx/reimbursement adult incontinence.
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