Deloitte Global report finds seventy-six percent of the Top 100 luxury goods companies reported sales growth  

Published: 17 April 2019

The world’s Top 100 luxury goods companies generated aggregated revenues of US$247 billion in fiscal year 2017, representing composite growth of 10.8 percent, according to the 2019 edition of Global Powers of Luxury Goods, a new report from Deloitte Global.

Despite the recent slowdown of economic growth in major markets including China, the Eurozone and the US, the luxury goods market looks positive.

“In an age of fast changing trends, luxury companies are re-examining the value of brand heritage and history and are adopting an omni-personal approach focusing solely on the new age consumer,” says Patrizia Arienti, Deloitte EMEA Fashion & Luxury Leader. “To accomplish this, they are committed to making significant investments in digital technologies.”

“The future success of luxury brands depends on how well they will be able to communicate and market their goods to the new generations of tech-savvy buyers. The rapid digitalization and ease of use of the digitalized platforms have led consumers to increasingly use social media tools to express their brand preferences. In order to engage with tech-savvy Millennials and Gen Z consumers that seek greater value for money, more personalization, and integrated digital access, luxury brands have started to develop accurate social media strategies,” says Zhang Tianbing, Deloitte Asia Pacific Consumer Products and Retail Sector Leader. “Many luxury brands are also developing relationships with influencers and niche bloggers, who advocate the brand within interested communities. There are many examples of luxury influencers such as fashion bloggers and fashion businesswomen that play a major role in endorsing luxury products.”

Global Powers of Luxury Goods Top 100

The world’s Top 100 luxury goods companies generated aggregated revenues of US$247 billion in FY2017, up from US$217 billion in the previous year (an increase of US$30 billion). Annual growth also jumped to 10.8 percent, on a currency-adjusted composite basis, much higher than the previous year’s 1.0 percent growth. Seventy-six percent of the companies reported growth in their luxury sales, with nearly half of these recording double-digit year-on-year growth.

The minimum revenue threshold required to enter the world’s Top 100 list of luxury goods companies in FY2017 was US$218 million, up by US$7 million from FY2016, with an average company size of US$2.47 billion.

The Top 10 companies accounted for nearly half (48.2%) of the total luxury goods sales of Top 100 companies. Among these, while the top three companies maintained their positions, the remaining ones moved up or down by one position.

Growth of the Top 10 outpaced that for the Top 100 companies, at 14.2 percent and 10.8 percent respectively. The Top 10 also improved their composite net profit margin to 11.6 percent. 

Cosmetics and fragrances was the top-performing sector in FY2017 with 16.1 percent sales growth, which was mainly due to the double-digit year-on-year growth of seven companies out of the total 11 in the sector.

Eighty-eight of the Top 100 luxury goods companies are headquartered in nine countries, and they account for 93.4% of Top 100 luxury goods sales. France has the largest companies with an average size of US$8.29 billion, which is much higher than the average Top 100 size of US$2.47 billion. France was also the best-performing country, achieving 18.7 percent composite sales growth in luxury goods in FY2017, and also contributed the largest share to the total sales of Top 100 luxury goods companies. Although Italy has the highest number of companies (24), it had the lowest sales growth rate.

About the Global Powers of Luxury Goods report

The report identifies the 100 largest luxury goods companies globally, based on the consolidated sales of luxury goods in FY2017 (for fiscal years ending through 30 June 2018), using publicly available data, and evaluates their performance across geographies and product sectors. It also provides a global economic outlook and discusses the key trends shaping the luxury market.