People wearing face masks following the coronavirus disease outbreak walk in the Sanya International Duty-Free shopping complex in Sanya, Hainan province, China Jan 25, 2023. REUTERS/Alessandro Diviggiano/Files
BEIJING – China’s luxury market contracted 10 percent in 2022 on the year, snapping a five-year streak of high growth, as Beijing’s zero-COVID policy and a slowing economy hit spending, Bain & Company said in a report on Tuesday. The luxury market grew 42 percent annually between 2019 and 2021 but its fortunes changed in 2022, after China doubled down on stamping out COVID-19 with city-wide lockdowns and a regulatory crackdown hit the property sector and fuelled unemployment.The figure compared to growth of 1 percent between 2012 and 2016, and a 26-percent increase in sales between 2016 and 2019, Bain said.
Mirroring recent results from the likes of French luxury goods group LVMH and Italy’s Salvatore Ferragamo for 2022, Bain said all luxury categories were affected to varying degrees during the year.