Editor’s Note
This summary is based on Bain & Company’s ‘Global Luxury Market Report,’ which highlights the sector’s stabilization in 2025 amid economic challenges and a shift toward experiential spending, alongside a notable decline in middle-class luxury consumers.
Despite economic headwinds and shifting consumer trends reshaping the market, the global luxury sector showed signs of recovery in 2025. Overall luxury consumption this year stabilized at a level similar to last year, and this consolidation trend is expected to continue into next year. There is a growing trend towards experiential consumption, while the number of middle-class luxury consumers has significantly decreased, further expanding the proportion of ultra-high-net-worth big spenders.
A report indicates that the global luxury market has entered a mature phase.
According to the latest ‘Global Luxury Market Report’ released by Bain & Company and Altagamma, the total global luxury consumption in 2025 reached 1.44 trillion euros. This represents a range from a 1% increase to a -1% decrease on a constant currency basis, essentially remaining flat. The analysis suggests that the explosive ‘reopening consumption’ seen immediately after the pandemic has faded, and accumulated fatigue over price increases has led demand to enter a phase of normalization.
The personal luxury goods market is projected to decline from 369 billion euros in 2023 to 364 billion euros in 2024, and further down to 358 billion euros in 2025. However, the report forecasts that the personal luxury goods market will grow at an annual rate of 4-6% thereafter, reaching between 525 billion and 625 billion euros by 2035. The overall luxury consumption size is projected to reach between 2.2 trillion and 2.7 trillion euros.
The most significant structural change in the current luxury market is the rapid rise of ‘experiential consumption’. As experience-centric consumption—such as luxury resorts, wellness, fine dining, cruises, sports, and travel—quickly replaces goods-centric consumption, the flow is shifting from conspicuous luxury to luxury for oneself. Bain describes this as a ‘seismic shift redefining the symbolic assets of luxury’. In contrast, traditional logo-driven categories like handbags, leather goods, and shoes have seen growth slow due to a lack of new hero products and price fatigue.
The contraction of the consumer base is even more severe. The number of global luxury consumers has decreased from approximately 400 million in 2022 to 340 million in 2025. The rate of acquiring new customers has fallen by 5%, and the proportion of customers actively opening their wallets has dropped from 60% to the low 40s. Meanwhile, the influence of top-tier ‘big spender’ customers, who accounted for 30% in 2019 and 45% in 2024, has grown to 46-47% this year. A distinct ‘sandwich market’ model has emerged, where the middle consumer layer is departing, leaving only the top and bottom consumer segments.
By category, jewelry, eyewear, and fragrances are performing well. Jewelry, which combines emotional, commemorative, and investment value, is expected to record the highest growth rate of 4-6%. Eyewear, with its strong multi-use characteristics, and the fragrance market, where AI-based diagnostics and recommendations are spreading, are also showing solid trends. In contrast, apparel is seeing slight consolidation, while leather goods and shoes lack clear signs of a rebound.
Regional disparities are also significant. China and Europe are slowing down, while the US shows signs of a rebound due to recovery in top-tier consumption driven by a strong stock market. The Middle East was cited as the fastest-growing region. The market size of the new ‘luxury belt’ spanning Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, and Africa has risen to approximately 45 billion euros this year, already matching the scale of mainland China.
The challenges for brands have become more complex. Bain points out that excessive price increases have weakened consumer trust and calls for a ‘redesign of the price-value equation’. This implies a need for strategies to ‘justify’ prices not through unconditional price cuts, but through designing entry price points and providing experience-based value. Additionally, AI-based demand forecasting and inventory optimization, offline restructuring centered on large, immersive flagship stores, and rebuilding relationships with middle-class consumers were mentioned as essential tasks.