The average yearly consumption of diapers for young children aged between 0 and 3 years approached 625 units per infant in 2006 - a total of 500 million units overall - taking the market to 60m euros.
On the market of non-comestible consumer products single-use baby diapers boasted the biggest growth rate in 2006. According to data from the ACNielsen market research company, baby diapers posted a 58.1% increase against 2005, but this growth margin also includes the modification of the sample on which the measurement was carried out.
Market players believe the real increase is around 20%, which was generated by consumers' switching to higher quality products from a more expensive category. At the same time, the baby product market is closely linked to the birth rate, which in 2005, the year for which the latest data is available, stood at 10.3 per thousand.
"During the March-April 2006 period, the sample was modified, but the overall market did not grow. This increase is in fact an expansion of an effectively gauged market. In fact, we put market growth at 20% in 2006 against 2005," says Mihaela Grigore, marketing manager with Bella Romania, a Polish-held company. Bella is one of the top five companies on the domestic market, with the Happy brand.
Reporting a growth rate similar to the market value registered in 2005, the baby diaper market generated a turnover worth around 60m euros in 2006 accounting for more than one third of the paper consumer products market.
"The single-use diaper market registered significant growth as part of the paper product market, which is worth 500m RON (150m euros) in Romania. One can even say the diaper market has doubled in the last three years," stated Jose Medran, general manager with Procter&Gamble Romania, which includes the Pampers brand in its portfolio.
In 2006, driven by the consistent growth of the cosmetics and personal care retail markets the non-comestible consumer goods market increased by 9.4%, in terms of volume, and by 13% in terms of value year-on-year.
Last year also saw baby diaper sales stand at 7.4% on the overall non-comestible consumer goods market.
"In actual terms, the Romanian diaper market remains small compared to other European markets, even Hungary and Poland, which indicates a high growth potential for the coming years," says Medran.
The diaper market has 5 multinationals currently operating, with the main international players already present with their own branches or through importers.
The most important distribution channels for baby diapers are hypermarkets and supermarkets. These stores accounted for 58.9% of the diaper volumes sold during the March 2006-January 2007 period, followed by drugstores, which accounted for 15.3%, according to MEMRB.
Baby diaper market
In 2006, the yearly average consumption of diapers for young children aged between 0 and 3 neared 625 units per baby- 500 million units overall, taking the market to 60m euros
Boasted the biggest growth rate in 2006 among non-comestible consumer goods
In 2006 generated a turnover worth around 60m euros accounting for more than a third of the paper consumer goods market
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