FMCG sector growth in the Asia Pacific region has seen incredible fluctuations over the past five years since the COVID-19 pandemic, with data from insights specialist NielsenIQ showing a lot of growth being price-led from 2022 to 2023, and again since the end of 2025.
But price-led growth generally comes at the price of reduced consumer demand, and with numbers and general consumer sentiment showing a gradual drop since Q4 2025 into Q2 2026, it is clear that industry cannot depend on pricing alone to see sustainable, long-term growth.
“Volatile, Variable and Vulnerable — these are the three words I would use to describe APAC FMCG growth over the past few years. We all saw volatility as a result of COVID, then variability in the growth shifting from being price-led to volume-led to price-led again, and now vulnerability as there’s been overall flat growth in the last quarter,” NielsenIQ Regional Executive Director Craig Houliston told the floor at our Growth Asia Summit 2026 taking place in Singapore this week.
“But because this is Asia we are talking about, there is a lot of variation between the different markets – for example, there’s been a general slowdown in the superpower nations China and India but positive growth in nations like Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. This also means that There is no single APAC strategy anymore, so winning companies will have to formulate ways to help them lean into tailwinds and protect against headwinds.”
The three biggest FMCG categories that are outperforming in APAC:
- Beauty and Cosmetics: 17% growth in China, 14% in Korea, 8% in Philippines
- Pet Food: 18% growth in Philippines, 14% in China
- OTC & Health: 31% growth in China, 16% growth in India, 8% growth in Australia
According to Houliston: “These are the categories that consumers are willing to pay a premium for, because these products are important to them, hence this is where we are seeing value growth coming in from. The question is how can firms make the most of this knowledge?”
One of the key drivers in APAC today is the influence of generational differences, going far beyond traditional concepts of designing products for a general population.
“This comes into play the most clearly when looking at innovations within the health and wellness category. Consumers of every generation have differing motivations and expectations so one-size-fits-all does not work, products must be designed with generational nuances,” he added.
“For example, boomers (aged 62 and above) respond strongly to brands that reward them for their loyalty and are also very focused on active ageing and independence. Gen X consumers (46 to 61) want personalised solutions, millennials (30 to 45) want to be able to manage multiple responsibilities especially family care, Gen Z (14 to 29) is driving growth while demanding novelty and immediacy, whereas Gen Alpha (13 and below) are tech natives so this must be catered to.”
Amid all of this, special attention needs to be paid to Gen Z consumers as well right now. Data shows that in APAC, Gen Z consumer spending is already past a tipping point: In 2022, Gen Z APAC consumption overtook baby boomers, and in 2036 it is forecasted to overtake Gen X as well.
A future of ‘pros’
As it stands, four major trends are expected to guide growth in APAC for the near future — all of which start with ‘pro’: Protein, Probiotics, Promotive and Prolonging.
“Protein is a major trend today, very popular, very promising and very pervasive. We have a very wide range of protein products on-market nowadays, ranging from 6g protein per serve all the way to 45g protein per serve such as with South Korea’s Take Fit Monster,” Houliston said.
“Probiotics on the other hand are cutting across many different categories from beverage to personal care, and are very much still evolving in areas such as cereals, pet care and even cleaning products; coming as not just probiotics but also postbiotics, synbiotics and so on.”
Promotive refers to products that can help with promotive transformation, such as those that can help to deal with new consumer new needs in a GLP-1 era.
“Although this is still much more prevalent in other markets like the United States, we do see the potential for APAC in the future. Categories such as mints and candies will benefit due to ‘Ozempic teeth’, where eating less leads to less saliva production and hence bad breath; and the beauty sector will need to help them deal with ‘Ozempic skin’ resulting from rapid weight loss,” he added.
“Prolonging is related to longevity, particularly in the current scenario where many markets are seeing ageing populations. This means innovating for an ageing APAC, and this is not only targeting elderly consumers – in South Korea for instance, ‘slow ageing’ products actually see a large proportion of Gen Z consumers looking to invest in prevention over cure.”
As for how the future of FMCG looks until 2030, he highlighted that how the Iran war plays out will greatly affect how things develop.
“In any crisis, the impacts could be a ripple, a reprice or a rewire – A ripple would be in the case of a short term crisis of less than three months, a reprice in the case of a mid-term crisis lasting until the end of the year, and a rewire is if instability continues until 2027,” Houliston said.
“Repricing is already taking place, where the industry is seeing sustained cost pressures and a K-shaped economy but if we move to a rewire, this means that volatility in the industry will be a new normal of sorts, and industry focus will be on supply chain resilience and establishing the trust and value that ensures consumers choose them.”
