Just a dollar a day: Latam families' FMCG spend

FMCG volume sales in Latin America continued to increase in 2017, but as Kantar Worldpanel's latest Consumer Insights report shows, growth remains slow across the region. Volumes increased by 1.7% - a deceleration compared with the 2016 rise of 2.6% - with most countries either flar or declining.

A similar pattern can be seen in the region's GDP growth of 1.7%, which represents a recovery from the -0.9% drop in 2016, but lags behind the global GDP increase of 3.6%.

The average household in Latin America spends just US$1,450 per year on their FMCG basket, which is similar to families in South Africa, Taiwan and Croatia. Based on a typical Latam family of four people, this equates to just $1 per person per day on everything they need for cleaning, cooking and personal care. This low spend is a reality in every market in the region. Either side of the average, a great deal of variation can be found: 15% of Latam households spend less than $1,000 a year, similar to families in Indonesia and the Philippines, while 16% spend more than $3,000, like those in France or the US. This polarization means there is room for a varied assortment of both premium and value brands in stores, as well as opportunities for a range of channels to suceed.