2024 was a solid year for the UK aerosol dispensing filling sector with an increase of almost 2% over 2023, showing a return to growth following a few flat years. This year, BAMA has also released personal care and household aerosol retail sales figures supplied by Kantar World Panel.
Personal care maintains growth
The standout sector which makes up 75% of the total market is personal care with an overall increase of 3% from 2023. With a 2.9% growth in deodorants, a 5% increase in antiperspirants and tanning and suncare rising by 22.5%, growth is evident across a number of categories. For the first time in recent years, shaving preparations have also grown, indicating a possible turning of the tide for the category.
Household products fall
In contrast, household product numbers have slowed compared to 2023, reinforced by a drop in the filling of air fresheners, as other formats for dispensing fragrance in the home continue to grow, and, as more of the furniture consumers have in the home is produced from manmade materials, furniture polish filling has also been impacted.
BAMA Chief Executive, Patrick Heskins says: “We’re delighted to see overall growth, especially as market challenges persist. Part of the drop in Household Products can be accounted for by the growth in number of Industrial Aerosols filled as the numbers for DIY lubricants appears to have been reported in this section for 2024. This is probably also true as to why the number of Paints and Lacquers shows a reduction as these have been picked up under Automotive.”
Impressive growth in smaller categories
Some of the smaller categories showed significant growth, with medical aerosol products up by over 5% and insecticides by nearly 27%. Also, the number of oven cleaners filled more than doubled, and, the miscellaneous category, which includes products such as glitter sprays and temporary hair colours, showed phenomenal growth.
The share of the market for aluminium and tinplate continued to go in favour of aluminium, with the split now 32% for tinplate and 68% for aluminium compared to a 38:62 split in 2023.
Aerosols remain firm export product
The numbers, which are supplied by UK fillers, indicate that aerosol dispensers continue to be a strong export product, with nearly 70% of the products made in the UK going to the EU (approximately 50% of production), and elsewhere in the world.
Patrick adds: “Thank you to all those who contributed to our survey this year. The strong response means we can be confident that the numbers shown are accurate and reflect the continued success of our industry in a tough global market.”
UK Aerosol Sales Insights
In addition to filling data, BAMA has also released aerosol sales figures supplied by Kantar World Panel. The numbers represent retail sales of aerosol products within the personal care and household sectors, purchased in the UK between 2015 and 2024.
With a drop in body spray purchases, the data reveals signs of a ‘trade up’ to deodorants as a larger variety of antiperspirants have become more readily available to consumers since 2015. Mirroring increased filling figures, suncare products also rose from 1,342 units in 2015 to 5,322 units in 2024. The ongoing decline in haircare aerosol sales may reflect shifts in fashion which, unlike other decades have not necessitated more styling products for women’s hair.
Patrick says: “The last decade has encountered numerous global and political developments, some of which are reflected in the sales figures. Our aim with the data is to provide as accurate a picture as possible for all industry stakeholders. Overall, the aerosol format has continued to perform and remained resilient to a host of challenges over the last 10 years, helping it to stand in good stead for the future.”
