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Three billion euros a year, equal to 4.8% of the total: this is the value of lost sales in the European cosmetics sector due to counterfeiting which corresponds to the loss of 32 thousand jobs. This was revealed in a report by Euipo (European Union Intellectual Property Office) on the economic impact of counterfeiting in the clothing, cosmetics and toy sectors in the EU from 2018 to 2021.
France is the first country affected with a loss of 800 million and almost 2,400 workers. Germany is in second place with 724 million fewer and almost 7 thousand jobs lost; Spain is third with 398 million and over 3,600 employed. Italy stands in fourth place with a value of 260 million in lost sales and almost 5 thousand jobs burned.
According to a study by Censis «Counterfeiting in the cosmetics sector. Characteristics and impact of the phenomenon” coordinated and financed by the Ministry of Economic Development – General Directorate for the Protection of Industrial Property – Uibm, alongside and parallel to the legal market of cosmetic products “the flagship of the economy and of Made in Italy, fueled from a demand for well-being and beauty that involves the entire population, without distinction of gender and age, an illegal market has developed over the years, within which there are a series of crimes, including the production and marketing – in the physical and online – of counterfeit cosmetics”.
A thriving and consistent market, fueled by strong demand from consumers: 21% of Italian families admit to having purchased a fake cosmetic at least once, and 12.9% did so intentionally. The data relating to the seizures carried out by the Guardia di Finanza and the Customs Agency at the borders and in the territory highlight how over 10 million fake cosmetics have been stolen from the market in the last ten years. In 2021, 120,000 pieces were seized and in the first six months of 2022 the Financial Police alone intercepted 105,280 fake cosmetics.
In recent years, in parallel with the growth of e-commerce, the market for online fakes has developed significantly: a recent joint OECD-EUIPO study reveals that from 2017 to 2019, 56% of seizures of counterfeit goods (for a value that corresponds to 14% of the total) at the external borders of the European Union concerns products sold online, and the prevalent category in seizures is cosmetics.