Consumer & Sustainability Perceptions 2024: Central & Eastern Europe
Our Consumer & Sustainability Perceptions 2024 report is part of a series of reports that explores how consumers view beauty and sustainability around the globe.
This report focuses on four countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic and Poland, including some insights about Hungary. It includes consumer data and insights as well as highlights local beauty brands that are innovating in the beauty sustainability space.
Our Consumer & Sustainability Perceptions 2024 report is released in eight parts covering different regions around the world:
- Latin America - HERE
- Asia-Pacific - HERE + Malaysia - HERE
- UK & Northern Europe - HERE
- Southern Europe HERE
- Western Europe - HERE
- Central & Eastern Europe - (below article)
- North America - coming soon
- Middle East & Africa - coming soon
Sustainable Initiatives & Priorities: Snapshot
Regions:
Central & Eastern Europe
The key markets covered in this report:
Market Insights
The four countries are very different:
- Poland is the largest country in the quartet (36.8 million (m) people) followed by Romania with 19.05m and the Czech Republic with 10.67m citizens. Hungary has a population of 9.70 m.
- Bulgaria (6.5m) is the smallest market.
- Poland and the Czech Republic joined the EU in 2004, Bulgaria and Romania followed in 2007.
Poland and the Czech Republic are amongst the most prosperous and stable countries in this section while Romania and in particular Bulgaria suffer from significant public sector corruption and political/economic instability. In 2023, Romania received the third-lowest EU score (46) in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), following Bulgaria (45) and Hungary (42). The Czech Republic, on the other hand, scored 57 in 2023 while Poland received a score of 54.
Transparency International’s CPI barometer ranks 180 countries worldwide by their reported public sector corruption on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (no corruption, i.e. clean). The global average is 43, the Western Europe/EU average is 65. To compare, 2023 scores for Western European countries were Sweden (82), UK (71), Denmark (90), Italy (56), Germany (78).
Economy
Poland: After a sharp slowdown in 2023, economic growth is expected to rebound in 2024 (+2.8%) and growing to 3.4% in 2025; supported by strong private, as well as public consumption. Investment is set to contribute positively to growth in 2024, less than in 2023, but to accelerate in 2025. Unemployment reached 2.8% in 2023 and is set to grow to 2.9% in 2025.
Romania: thanks to higher disposable incomes which are driving private consumption, GDP growth in Romania is set to grow to 3%. Financial conditions are expected to ease and public investment to remain robust. Unemployment is expected to decline from 5.6% in 2023 to 5.5% in 2025.
