Glamour, Glitz and Cash; One-third of World’s Luxury Goods are consumed by 2% of China’s Population

10 December, 2013: The luxury market is increasingly the topic of conversation — what do people do with their expendable income, and further, what about the large emerging market in China, where expendable income is eclipsed by huge spenders buying big ticket items — homes, yachts, cards, and jewelry? 

Consulting magazine says worldwide sales of personal luxury goods would rise 6% in 2013 — beating the 5% seen in 2012. 

According to China’s official population clock, there are an estimated 1,359,025,970 people in China as of Sept. 26 and just 2% of that number — some 27,180,519 people — consuming one third of the world’s luxury items. 

“We are seeing a huge increase in the sales of baseline luxury goods from leaders offering standard luxury goods such as handbags, purses, the ‘big names’ if you will” – “But we are also seeing a boom in purchases of items such as yachts, vacation homes, and property — related to acquisition and assets, pointing to a stronghold investment in future luxury purchases, and ongoing luxury purchases baseline for the immediate future”, says Ralph O’Leary, owner and senior financial advisor for www.CharterThatYacht.com. 

Although the huge majority of China’s population is unable to purchase luxury items, as the country’s economy grows so will its market, the magazine said. Top research institutions have predicted that in the next three to five years, the role of the Asia-Pacific region in the global luxury markets will become even more transparent, especially in China. 

AT Kearney, a Shanghai management consulting company, said that China accounts for more than 30% of global luxury sales. Meanwhile, overseas purchases account for 55%-60% of the total market, the company said. 

Luxury Leaders such as the LVMH group are key to understanding huge sums involved in the luxury industry. The market value of the LVMH group is just shy of 605 billion yuan (US$98.8 billion), which is even higher than the Chinese oil giant Sinopec Group at 514 billion yuan (US$84 billion). 

Consultancy says worldwide sales of personal luxury goods would rise 6% in 2013 — beating the 5% seen in 2012. 

As one of the world’s most premier yacht chartering companies, CharterThatYacht.com is a leader in the luxury yacht chartering business — offering our clients the top yacht models at locations all around the globe.