Consumers favour human impact over sustainability claims, report says

Green product sales hit $886.2b in 2025, outpacing non-sustainable goods.

Consumers continue to support sustainable products but are placing greater value on measurable human and financial benefits than broad environmental claims, according to Euromonitor International.

Global sustainability sales reached $886.2b in 2025, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 6.7% between 2020 and 2025, outpacing non-sustainable products by 1.3 percentage points.

Climate concern remained steady at around 60% globally over the past two years, whilst 45% of consumers said they continued to make environmentally conscious choices.

Euromonitor's Voice of the Consumer: Health and Nutrition Survey, conducted between January and February 2026, said sustainability has become a mainstream expectation rather than a product differentiator.

It added that brands now need substantiated and measurable sustainability claims to justify price premiums.

"Consumers still care, but they are increasingly stretched by financial pressures, geopolitical uncertainty, and the demands of everyday life," the report said.

It found that 57% of global consumers experience moderate to extreme stress each day.

Consumers no longer want sustainability to feel like another responsibility they must take on alone and instead favour products with clear, measurable outcomes.

It identified recyclable packaging and locally sourced products as the most trusted sustainability claims globally, with both cited by 57% of consumers. Natural products followed at 55%, organic products at 53%, and environmentally friendly products at 52%.

Premiums now depend on claims that shoppers can verify through visible benefits, citing L'Oréal's refill campaign.

The campaign showed that purchasing a 100ml refill instead of two 50ml bottles reduced the cost per millilitre by 46%, whilst cutting glass use by 73%, plastic use by 66%, and cardboard use by 61%.

The report also found that consumers increasingly assess sustainability through social and ethical outcomes, including worker welfare, fair farmer incomes, and responsible sourcing.

It said 48% of consumers trust sustainably sourced claims, and products carrying social and ethical claims have outperformed overall category growth since 2020.

"Consumers are no longer evaluating sustainability through environmental impact alone," the report said. "Increasingly, they want sustainability to have a face, a beneficiary."