Personal care has become one of the major drivers of consumption among Spaniards, and this has led the cosmetics and perfume industry to grow rapidly, encouraged by strong demand from new generations and also from tourists arriving in the country. In 2025, sales in the beauty market amounted to 11,819 million euros, after an increase of 5.8% over the previous year, doubling the evolution of national GDP (2.8%) and surpassing sectors such as tourism (4%) or hospitality (3.5%). These figures were released this Thursday by Stanpa (National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics), which includes more than 90% of the companies in the sector.
And not only that. In the last five years, the business has grown by an accumulated 44%, generated 24% more employment, exceeding 50,000 workers, and doubled its exports. “This growth reflects the importance society places on personal care. Since 2020, consumers are more concerned about their health and well-being,” said Óscar Mateo, Stanpa’s Director of Studies, at the presentation of the fourth X-ray of the cosmetics and perfume industry in Spain 2025, this morning in Madrid.
The beauty industry’s contribution to national wealth exceeds 1%. But the strength of the domestic market is only one of its assets. Spain is a major exporter of cosmetics and perfumes, the second in the world for fragrances. It sells as many products abroad as wines and olive oils combined, as highlighted by the organization’s CEO and vice-president of Cepyme, Val Díez (and footwear, added her counterpart at ICEX, Elisa Carbonell). Last year, exports exceeded 10,124 million euros despite the complex and uncertain geopolitical environment and trade tensions with the United States, its primary destination outside Europe, where sales fell by 13% (“the US has made us lose more than 100 million euros,” Díez admitted), which caused overall growth to slow down compared to 2024 to 5.6%.
These difficulties have grown this year as a result of the war in Iran, which has impacted logistics and is having direct effects on the sector’s export activity, as Stanpa acknowledges. In 2025, the Middle East concentrated exports worth 480 million euros and “constitutes a strategic market for the industry,” according to the study.
“All the setbacks are coming from the supply side,” said Carbonell, “increasing production costs and making us less price-competitive.” However, the CEO of ICEX highlighted that the beauty sector has a great capacity to absorb successive global shocks thanks to its “elements of competitiveness different from price,” such as innovation (the industry invests 3.4% of its turnover in R&D&i).
Daily Use
Toothpaste, soap or gel, deodorant, and shampoo are the main products that between 82% and 94% of Spaniards use for their personal hygiene every day. But perfume is already part of the daily routine of six out of ten citizens, and facial creams for half of them. Women and men. They have acquired such relevance that men use 6.2 cosmetic products daily and women 9.4.
In fact, according to Stanpa, personal care is among the top three activities for Spaniards to feel better, only behind physical exercise and relaxation. These preferences lead to per capita spending on hygiene and cosmetics rising to 234.5 euros annually, a figure that far exceeds the average expenditure of all Europeans, which stands at 184 euros.
The data reveals that in Spain, people like to look good. Hence, all product categories showed positive growth last year. Especially perfumes, which rose by 9.5%, particularly encouraged by men, “who are more brand-conscious and loyal to brands than women,” said Mateo. Creams account for 32% of the industry’s turnover, perfumes 21% (and more than half of exports), personal hygiene 20%, hair care 17%, and color cosmetics the remaining 10%.
90% of sales are made in stores. Specialized perfumeries and premium stores performed best during 2025. Mass consumption represents the bulk of the industry’s turnover: 5,800 million euros, compared to 2,683 million from perfumeries, 2,044 million from pharmacies, and 521 million from hairdressers. The digital channel (with 426 million) is the only one that has fallen compared to 2024: by 4.7%.
Sector Challenges
“The sector is not yet very well known in Spain for its industrial power,” lamented Stanpa’s CEO, Val Díez. “Exceeding 11,800 million and growing double the GDP was something we didn’t dream of 15 years ago.” However, the cosmetics industry faces several challenges. “We have a tremendously complicated geopolitical context, a complex legislative environment, increasing tolerance for unfair competition, counterfeiting, and we face the transformation of stores,” acknowledged the executive, who nevertheless affirms that Spain is not a country “that follows trends but sets them” for the rest of the world.
