Global Candy Market Continues to Rise

As Halloween week winds down, consumers across the nation will begin the process of slowly making a dent in a pile of over 600 million pounds of one of the world’s most coveted treats—candy.  Candy—also called confectionery and comprised of chocolate, sugar, and gum products—has been one of the most popular goods on the globe since 1894, with worldwide confectionery sales anticipated to increase 3.2 percent by 2022 and valued at 85.5 billion dollars in 2016.

Furthermore, Allied Market Research predicts a 4.2 percent rise in the value of candy in the Asia-Pacific market and a 5.1 percent compound annual growth rate within the India market.  In the US alone, confectionery sales totaled almost 34.9 billion dollars in 2015, a number that’s expected to reach 38.1 billion dollars by 2020.  Major candy producers The Hershey Company and Mars—the leading global producer—made up 73.4 percent of the US candy sector in 2016.  Despite these hefty numbers, North America isn’t even the worldwide leader in confectionery sales, coming in at 36.97 percent compared to Asia-Pacific’s 39.4 percent and Western Europe’s commanding 52.82 percent.

Driving this growth in candy is an increase in disposable income and global urbanization, which is pushing out more available money to citizens around the world and increased opportunities to purchase products.  More minor market influences include a rising demand for dark chocolate, product innovation, and lower calorie and sugar-free candies that cut down on growing health concerns within the candy sector.

All in all, it is reasonable to conclude that candy will long have a standing place as one of the major global markets, and their integration into society through holidays will continue to produce annual spikes in confectionery sales.  With the global economy ever increasing, candy sales will surely grow throughout all parts of the world, making that growing pile of candy even bigger each year.