The Asia-Pacific region is on track to become the world’s most powerful consumer market, with private consumption expected to jump from $65 trillion in 2025 to $110–$120 trillion by 2035 For consumer packaged goods (CPG) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) players, that growth comes with complexity: divergent market trajectories, fragmented channels, and fast‑moving local competitors.
Growth is real but uneven
In the twelve months to June 2025, FMCG value in Asia-Pacific grew 4%, powered mainly by 2.8% volume growth and a modest 1.2% price increase. That contrasts with North America and Western Europe, where growth has been slower and more reliant on price hikes than true volume recovery.
Within the Asia-Pacific, performance is sharply split. India posted value growth of 7.2% in 2024 and an even stronger 13.7% in the first half of 2025, while Southeast Asia cooled to 1.8% in early 2025 from 3.5% the year before. China is showing early signs of a rebound, with FMCG growth rising from 2.8% in 2024 to 4.7% in the first half of 2025, driven largely by online channels.
No single growth engine
A decade ago, many multinationals treated China as the region’s default growth engine. Now, its GDP has moderated from 6.8% in 2018 to 5.0% in 2024, with the IMF revising its 2030 forecast down to 3.4%. At the same time, India is projected to sustain around 6.5% annual GDP growth to 2030, while the ASEAN‑5 (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam) are expected to expand by roughly 4.5%, led by Indonesia. The result is a diversified growth map where no single country can carry the region, forcing CPG leaders to define clear roles for each market—whether as growth engines, profit hubs, or innovation testbeds.
Consumers are not simply “trading down”
The data show Asia-Pacific consumers are not uniformly becoming more price‑sensitive; instead, preferences are fragmenting. An analysis of eight categories across six markets reveals four different pricing patterns—polarisation, premiumisation, convergence, and trade‑down—with no market or category following just one trend.
In categories such as laundry in China, India, and Indonesia, and beauty and cosmetics in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia, premiumisation or polarisation is clear, opening space for higher‑priced offerings. One example is Australian‑based toilet paper brand Who Gives A Crap, which grew its share from 0.9% to 2.6% by MAT June 2025 by pairing eco‑friendly products with a “global impact” mission and donating half its profits.
New channels and AI are rewriting the rules
E‑commerce is now the central growth engine for FMCG across Asia-Pacific, even though most markets remain predominantly offline. In China and South Korea, online channels already contribute about 40% of FMCG sales, and emerging formats are reshaping how people discover and buy.
Social commerce is the standout disruptor. TikTok Shop became the number two e‑commerce platform in the ASEAN‑6 within just two to three years of launch, while Douyin Shop is now China’s leading FMCG e‑commerce platform as of MAT June 2025. Quick commerce is booming too: in China, the market is expected to hit $120–$150 billion by the end of 2025 with a 15–30% CAGR over the past two years, and FMCG accounting for about half of GMV.
AI is accelerating these changes. A NielsenIQ survey shows 39% of consumers in the region already use AI when shopping online, and another 40% are willing to adopt it. Brands like Kans in China and Skintific in Indonesia are winning by going “social‑first,” with Kans becoming the top beauty brand on Douyin Shop and climbing to number three across channels, while Skintific lifted its offline share from 0.5% to 2.3% between MAT June 2023 and MAT June 2025.
Local heroes are scaling fast
Domestic and regional brands now dominate many Asia-Pacific FMCG markets, gaining share across most developing economies (with India a key exception). These local heroes match multinationals in innovation, marketing, and digitalisation, and often move faster in design‑to‑cost and localisation.
Eastroc, a Chinese beverage company, tripled revenue from 4.9 billion renminbi in 2020 to 15.8 billion renminbi in 2024 by targeting blue‑collar workers, expanding into ready‑to‑drink coffee and tea, and building a network of over 3,200 distributors that reach more than 4.2 million retail outlets. At the same time, brands like Pop Mart and Samyang are turning regional pop culture into global growth, with Pop Mart’s overseas revenue growing at a 243% CAGR between 2022 and 2024.
What CPG leaders need to do now
The report outlines a clear agenda for CPG leaders in Asia-Pacific. Companies should reprioritise markets, defining which will be big bets and aligning KPIs, investment, and talent accordingly, while redesigning value propositions for premium segments rather than relying solely on price.
They also need fit‑for‑purpose business models for new channels, the ability to “compete like a local” in must‑win markets, and systems that transfer knowledge and capabilities—especially around social commerce and AI—across borders. Those that treat AI as a full business transformation, not a tech experiment, are best placed to capture scale, speed, and sustainable competitive advantage in the world’s fastest‑evolving consumer arena.
