India’s Luxury Market Is Booming as Consumers Spend on High-End Goods and Travel
India’s luxury market is having a moment. From 2010 to 2014, the country’s luxury sector grew by a whopping 74 percent. In 2021, the Indian luxury goods market was valued at over $5 billion, and it is now expected to grow by another 10 percent over the next five years.
India’s economy has been recovering steadily from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and its luxury sector is no exception. With a rise in luxury spending in both retail and travel, luxury sales have grown across multiple categories.
“There has been a near revenge-like increase in spending on luxury living in India,” Christopher Roberts, director of consulting firm Engaged Strategy, told Middle Eastern publication National News. “From experiential luxury via high-priced holiday travels, big fat weddings and fine dining experiences to purchases of sprawling residences, to name a few, the luxury goods market has witnessed a bounce back over the last two years.”
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Luxury brands have taken notice. This shift in spending has already pushed esteemed labels to move into the market. In August, Balenciaga announced that it would enter India’s luxury market by 2023. Valentino, meanwhile, has opened a boutique in New Delhi and a flagship location in Mumbai as part of a partnership with Reliance Brands Limited.
E-commerce has also contributed to the country’s luxury boom. Amit Pande, brand head of The Collective—an Indian online retailer that carries over 80 luxury brands—says the accessibility of online shopping has contributed to the growing demand from wealthy Indian consumers.
“Today, affluence comes about with a certain confidence about the future. Many Indians today want to claim a better quality of life, and rightly so,” Pande told Vogue Business. “This mindset will fuel the demand for premium and higher quality products and experiences in the near future.”
It also doesn’t hurt that the number of wealthy Indians has grown substantially over the last decade. There has been an 11 percent increase in people with incomes above $30 million since 2011. That number is expected to climb to 39 percent by 2026.
With numbers like that, it will be no surprise if India becomes a powerful force in the luxury sector over the next decade.
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