A SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTOR TO THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY
The A.I.S.E. network moved rapidly as the pandemic took hold in early 2020 to ensure the ongoing supply of vital products for cleaning and disinfection across all markets for household and professional use. Due to its portfolio of products and services, A.I.S.E. is an essential sector in the fight against COVID-19, and our companies took a leadership role in providing European citizens with crisis-relevant products such as hand disinfectants, surface disinfectants, and other essential cleaning products for homes and professional settings.
In 2022, the total market value of the household care and professional cleaning and hygiene sector in Europe was estimated at €42,8 billion. This growth indicates to what extent this industry is a substantial contributor to the European economy.
To understand more about how the industry responded to the unprecedented crisis, read the testimonials in the
Household care sector
The household care industry is grouped in five main product areas, sold mostly through grocery retailers (85%), pharmacies and drug stores (9%). In 2020, consumers in Europe spent an estimated €32,4 billion on household care products (compared to €30,2 billion in 2019). All household care markets grew in the last year, in particular surface care, dishwashing and bleaches. This is a logical consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic during which people spent an increased amount of time at home, and during which the demand for cleaning and disinfectant products soared.
Professional cleaning and hygiene sector
In the professional cleaning sector, specialised cleaning and hygiene products are delivered for a wide range of sectors and applications (e.g. hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, food factories, farms, industrial facilities, management cleaning, commercial laundries, military institutions, schools, universities, hotels). These products are supported by technical advice, expert services and equipment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an important impact on the professional market in 2020. Business customers spent an estimated €8,8 billion on professional cleaning and hygiene products and services (compared to €7,8 billion in 2019). Our industry has played a very important role to supply the increasing need for cleaning products and disinfectants to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is reflected in the growth rate of nearly 23% of this market.
This is particularly the case in strategic sectors such as the healthcare sector where the market demand grew by 67% in 2020. Given the global lockdowns, sectors such as building care, kitchen and catering and professional laundry all suffered due to business closures (offices, hotels and restaurants closed for business). However, 2020 was obviously not a typical year, and the above data and trends shown below are estimations and should be interpreted as such.
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