The average yearly consumption of diapers for young children aged between 0 and 3 years approached 625 units per infant in 2006 - a total of 500 million units overall - taking the market to 60m euros.
On the market of non-comestible consumer products single-use baby diapers boasted the biggest growth rate in 2006. According to data from the ACNielsen market research company, baby diapers posted a 58.1% increase against 2005, but this growth margin also includes the modification of the sample on which the measurement was carried out.
Market players believe the real increase is around 20%, which was generated by consumers' switching to higher quality products from a more expensive category. At the same time, the baby product market is closely linked to the birth rate, which in 2005, the year for which the latest data is available, stood at 10.3 per thousand.
"During the March-April 2006 period, the sample was modified, but the overall market did not grow. This increase is in fact an expansion of an effectively gauged market. In fact, we put market growth at 20% in 2006 against 2005," says Mihaela Grigore, marketing manager with Bella Romania, a Polish-held company. Bella is one of the top five companies on the domestic market, with the Happy brand.
Reporting a growth rate similar to the market value registered in 2005, the baby diaper market generated a turnover worth around 60m euros in 2006 accounting for more than one third of the paper consumer products market.
"The single-use diaper market registered significant growth as part of the paper product market, which is worth 500m RON (150m euros) in Romania. One can even say the diaper market has doubled in the last three years," stated Jose Medran, general manager with Procter&Gamble Romania, which includes the Pampers brand in its portfolio.
In 2006, driven by the consistent gr
