Poland has a well-established position on the cosmetics market with a domestic market worth more than EUR 4 billion, which places our country among the six largest cosmetics markets in the European Union. Poland follows only Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Spain.

Polish companies have reached a sizeable market share of over 50% in terms of value and over 66% in terms of volume. Poland is the 5th largest exporter of cosmetics in the EU and 10th in the world.

The trade surplus is another way of measuring the state of Polish exports of the industry. In 2021, it was 36 %. These figures demonstrate the resilient nature of the cosmetics industry. Trade surpluses have remained stable for several years, making Poland comparable to Germany (40 %) and Spain (49 %). The strength of Poland’s export position is demonstrated by the fact that every second cosmetic product produced in Poland is exported. Moreover, globally, every third hybrid varnish is produced in Poland.

The Polish cosmetics market is dominated by family-run companies, which results in an individualistic approach to creating top-quality products.

There are several hundred producers operating in the cosmetics industry in Poland (more than 1,200 businesses are registered in the REGON database in the PKD class 20.42 – manufacture of cosmetic and toiletry products), 90% of which are micro-companies. At the end of 2021, there were 83 entities employing more than 9 people. The number of employees was 15,400. 59 of these companies are dominated by domestic capital, and include Ziaja, Oceanic, Dr Irena Eris, Eveline Cosmetics, Inglot, Bielenda and Delia.

The cosmetics industry in Poland is also a successful marriage of business and science. In 2016. 63 academic institutions offered diplomas in cosmetology and cosmetic chemistry and just three years later in 2019 this number had risen to 73, hence Poland can boast highly qualified specialists.

Adrian Andrzejewski