2025
9
UK Suncare Market Report 2025
2025-12-18T16:02:15+00:00
REP8DF49FCA_5CEC_4017_A251_BB4619C0DDDA
2195
189826
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Report
en_GB
In the UK, 59% of sun protection users report wearing sunscreen most days, showing it has become integrated into daily beauty/grooming regimens. There are opportunities to further promote this habit…
UK
Suncare
simple

UK Suncare Market Report 2025

"The suncare category has seen massive growth but can see further success by leaning into sensorial trends and meeting the unmet needs of select consumer groups."

Georgia Stafford, Beauty & Personal Care Analyst

Georgia Stafford, Beauty & Personal Care Analyst

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  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • The outlook for suncare
    • Opportunities
    • Elevate the user experience to boost usage frequencies
    • Reimagine scent profiles to encourage year-round application
    • Focus on specific skin types in NPD to engage a wider audience
  2. THE MARKET

    • Snapshot – market size and forecast
    • Secure suncare against consumers’ financial pessimism
    • Graph 1: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-25
    • How to respond to demographic shifts
    • SPF testing changes could accelerate innovation
    • The impact of the preventative ageing trend
    • Changing weather will benefit the category and create new needs
    • Going beyond protection will be key to drive growth
    • Market size and forecast for suncare
    • Graph 2: market value forecast for suncare, 2019-30
    • Social media trends help the sun protection segment grow
    • Retailers can address consumer concerns around price and skin type suitability
    • K-Beauty could threaten legacy brands
    • Push own-label innovation further
    • Graph 3: share of retail value sales of sun protection and aftersun products, by brand, 2023-25
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • The evolving needs of consumers
    • Despite innovation in added SPF products, sun protection is still the go-to
    • Limit adjacent categories’ impact on suncare sales
    • Prove long-wear claims for oily skin sun protection users
    • Encourage the adoption of stick formats
    • Creams and lotions drive overall usage, but lightweight formats benefit from more frequent usage
    • Ensuring adequate protection will increase purchase frequency
    • Graph 4: agreement with the statement “I wear sun protection products/products with added SPF most days”, by sun protection and aftersun formats used in the last 12 months, 2025
    • Bring bodycare innovation to the aftersun category
    • How to overcome usage barriers
    • Overcome the top barriers to sun protection usage
    • Dispel misconceptions about when sun protection is needed
    • Graph 5: respondents not using sun protection or not using it everyday and citing “I don’t spend enough time outdoors to need it” as the reason, 2025
    • Address social media misinformation
    • Ensure sun protection products’ suitability for all skintones
    • No-white-cast claims need proof
    • Graph 6: share of UK suncare launches containing white cast* in the product description, 2020-25
    • Show the importance of a hybrid approach with clothing collaborations
    • Prepare for a possible removal of VAT on suncare
    • Opportunities to drive spending
    • Skin type-specific formats can drive spending
    • Develop sensitive skin products
    • Engage sun protection users with fragrance
    • Tap into trending scent notes
    • Graph 7: top five scent note preferences, 2025
    • Beautifying claims blur the lines between categories
    • Use the language of cellular health
    • Explore innovative formats with caution
  4. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Match sampling opportunities with moments consumers need sun protection
    • Meet the demand for own-label sun protection
    • Own-label innovation can help make sun protection a daily essential
    • Justify premium price points with novel technology
    • Retailers can position sun protection as a daily essential
    • Take note of emerging suncare formats
    • Graph 8: format/texture landscape for sun – sun/sunbed exposure, 2025
    • Explore novel suncare formats
    • Align suncare with consumer lifestyles
    • Prove inclusive claims with diverse advertising
  5. APPENDIX

    • Market definition
    • The market
    • Forecast methodology
    • Forecast methodology – fan chart
    • Market size and forecast of suncare
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals
    • Market segmentation
    • Market share – sun protection and aftersun
    • Market share – sunless tanning
    • Channels to market
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • Repertoire analysis methodology
    • UK generation groups
    • Product, innovation and marketing
    • NPD in the sun protection segment, by top 10 claims
    • Graph 9: NPD in the sun protection segment, by top 10 claims (based on 2025), 2024-25*
    • NPD in the aftersun segment, by top 10 claims
    • Graph 10: NPD in the aftersun segment, by top 10 claims (based on 2025), 2024-25
    • NPD in the sun protection segment, by format
    • Graph 11: NPD in the sun protection segment, by format (based on 2025), 2024-25
    • NPD in the sun protection and aftersun segments, by brand type
    • Graph 12: NPD in the sun protection segment, by brand type, 2024-25
    • Graph 13: NPD in the aftersun segment, by brand type, 2024-25
    • NPD in the sun protection and aftersun segments, by beauty price positioning
    • Graph 14: NPD in the sun protection segment, by beauty price positioning, 2024-25
    • Graph 15: NPD in the aftersun segment, by beauty price positioning, 2024-25
    • Total above-the-line advertising expenditure on suncare
    • Other data source methodologies
    • Mintel Spark
    • Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
    • Abbreviations

UK Suncare Industry – Trends and Insights

  • In the UK, 59% of sun protection users report wearing sunscreen most days, showing it has become integrated into daily beauty/grooming regimens. There are opportunities to further promote this habit by proving the suitability of lightweight, no-white-cast formulas for consumers with oily skin and darker skintones.
  • The ISO’s new approval of faster, potentially more affordable, SPF testing can accelerate new product development timelines. This could see a speedier release of suncare market trends and more limited edition or seasonal launches. This could allow suncare brands to better engage with sensorial trends to offer new scents based on popular fragrance notes, driving interest in the category and benefitting value sales.
  • The sensorial BPC trend, referring to pleasant-to-use textures and appealing scents, holds a lot of potential for the suncare category. Consumers will be willing to spend on products that enhance their mood and make sun protection application more enjoyable.
  • Adjacent categories offering SPF in makeup, facial skincare and even clothing threaten the suncare category. Understanding, and emulating, what makes these brands successful can help sun protection sales remain in the suncare products market.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • The impact of the rising cost of living on purchase frequency and value demands
  • The potential future acceleration of NPD and line extensions enabled by new testing methods
  • The need for inclusive products and marketing strategies
  • The impact of the preventative ageing trend
  • How to combat misinformation with credible, evidence-led consumer education
  • The demand for sensorially appealing products
Report AttributesDetails
Published DateDecember 2025
Report AuthorGeorgia Stafford, Beauty & Personal Care Analyst
Market Data2019 – 2025
Market Forecast2025 – 2030
Measurement MetricsMarket value in £
Market SegmentationSun protection and aftersun, Self-tan
Consumer Data2,000 internet users aged 16+, September 2025
Leading Brands in the UK Suncare MarketNIVEA Sun, Garnier Ambre Solaire, Hawaiian Tropic, Riemann, Bondi Sands, Dove, St. Moritz

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