While their definition of the products category is different, Grand View Research and Kline are reaching the same conclusion: sales of natural and organic cosmetics are growing faster than the rest of the beauty market.

According to a post by Kline’s VP of consumer products Carrie Mellage, the global natural and organic personal care market has registered double-digit growth for the sixth consecutive year since Kline began reporting the segment separately in 2007.

Consumer awareness

Growing consumer awareness and increasing efficacy of natural personal care products continues to attract consumers who are looking to move away from chemically processed personal care products. Plant-based ingredients were once enough to entice consumers; today a product’s function and efficacy are now regarded as at least as important as the ingredient source by many consumers,” she says.

According to Grand View Research, skin care was the largest product segment in terms of revenue in 2013, accounting for over 32% of the global market. Hair care was the second largest product segment and accounted for around 25% of market share in terms of revenue in 2013.

Increasing awareness among consumers regarding harmful effects of synthetic products on the body coupled with high appearance consciousness has fuelled the demand for organic skin care products. In addition, frequent product launches and widening of distribution channels is further expected to raise the demand,” confirms Grand View Research.

Emerging markets

While North America and Europe are currently the biggest markets, Brazil and Asia are the fastest growing regions both up around 15% in 2013, according to Kline - although these markets regularly enjoy high growth across the overall market. “The steady rise of the segment in Europe and the United States, where the natural personal care market is one of few areas showing sustained high growth, is perhaps more notable,” underlines Carrie Mellage.

According to Kline, in 2013, Europe saw a 6% uptick in natural personal care sales, more than double the pace of the total personal care market, which is estimated to have increased by about 3% in 2013. Likewise, the natural segment in the United States surged by 7% compared to a mere 2% rise for the overall beauty market.