ASIA Pulse #1 - March 2021

We have officially changed the name of this series to ASIA Pulse. Previously known as Consumer Insights Asia, the special quarterly report from the Worldpanel division of Kantar.

Within the report, we provide a quarterly update of FMCG market across Asia, including a variety of categories across China Mainland, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, India, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

In this latest report covering the period Q4, 2020 we capture the highlights as follows:

• China Mainland: With the stable recovery of China Mainland‘s economy, China Mainland’s GDP increased by 2.3% year-on-year; Dispensable income of urban residents increased by 3.5%, and the FMCG market gradually recovered from the COVID-19 epidemic.

• Taiwan: Taiwanese shoppers spent more time at home with more home cooking or party occasions that “cooking necessity” as new keyword in FMCG.

• South Korea: Online continues to grow in Korea, with fiercer competition as Hypermarkets entering the online market. Many online platforms are now marketing themselves for one stop shopping destination.

• Indonesia: FMCG has grown in 2020 as households have re-prioritized their spends resulting in FMCG growing at a higher rate compared to 2019. The driver of this growth coming from the food sector which grew significantly compared to other sectors.

• Malaysia: Malaysian economy contracted by -5.6% in Q4, this is largely due to the Covid-19 forcing strict semi lockdowns which weighted on economic activity. FMCG has grown +12% in Q4, a 10.3 percentage point increase from last year driven by measures of staying and working from home.

• Thailand: Number of shopping trips have been declining for past 7 years, while basket size gradually increased. Stocking up at the begging of first lockdown in Q1 contributed to the trend. In Q4 when there was government subsidy program, spend per trip showed growth in both Urban and Rural.

• Philippines: Among the top 10 categories, instant noodles and family/adult milk are best performing. After recovery in Q3, the Non-Food sector slows down for Q4.

• Vietnam: FMCG in 2020 showed a stronger growth, mainly driven by the impact of COVID-19. Almost all sectors grew at a faster pace with Packaged Food sector being the biggest winner.