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Here’s How Nielsen India Expects Consumer Goods Market To Fare This Year

Nielsen India’s forecast for 2019...

Shoppers browse goods at a D-Mart supermarket. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg) 
Shoppers browse goods at a D-Mart supermarket. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg) 

The consumer goods industry, considered a barometer of consumption in the economy, is expected to grow at a marginally slower pace this year, according to Nielsen India.

The fast-moving consumer goods market grew at 13.8 percent in 2018, the market researcher said. It’s expected to grow at 11-12 percent in 2019. The growth in the first half of the year will be higher owing to a low-base effect, and it’s expected to taper in the second half.

The fundamentals, however, remain strong, Nielsen India said. The factors that will help the growth sustain are GDP expansion, the downward trend in consumer price inflation, rural consumption and sustained benefits from goods and services tax, it said.

The food industry is expected to grow at the fastest pace at 12-13 percent, while personal and home care categories will grow at 10-11 percent, Nielsen India said.

In the October-December quarter, the industry grew at 15.9 percent and 75 percent of the growth came from volumes and the rest was price-led because the companies increased prices to counter higher raw material costs, rise in customs duty on certain products and a weaker rupee. Consumers also bought bigger packs or premium products that are priced higher.

On the impact of elections on consumption, Sameer Shukla, executive director at Nielsen India, told BloombergQuint that consumer spending during an election year is either the same or a tad lower than the previous one. It still has to be examined if cash generated during election is used to buy consumer goods, he said.