Sunscreen grows from niche to staple on India’s beauty shelf as buyers triple

India’s increasingly scorching weather is helping sunscreen find a place in the sun, with the number of households buying it more than tripling in four years to 14.3 million as of June 2026, according to a Worldpanel by Numerator report shared exclusively with ET.

This indicates compound annual growth rate of 36% from 4.2 million households in June 2022, pushing the once-niche beauty category into the mainstream, driven by greater awareness of sun exposure, hotter and more unpredictable weather, wider availability, more accessible price points and its growing appeal as both daily sun protection and an anti-ageing staple.

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Younger consumers are also incorporating sun protection into daily skincare routines, rather than treating it as a seasonal product, said Manoj Menon, director, commercial, South Asia, at Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar).

Growth is also spreading beyond major cities. “While urban India is the principal growth engine, rural growth is significant and indicates that sun care is no longer an exclusively metropolitan category,” Menon said. “However, penetration remains relatively low, suggesting substantial headroom for growth in brands can improve engagement and affordability.”

Rural penetration of sunscreen has tripled in the same period to 2.4% while urban penetration has reached 7.1%, the report said.

The sunscreen market in India stretches from low-priced mass products to specialised premium formulations. Large FMCG companies are focusing on affordability, while beauty brands are pushing sunscreen as part of everyday skincare and offering products for different skin types and concerns.

Hindustan Unilever is pushing sunscreen across price points, starting from a Rs 10 SPF 50 Lakme sunscreen, aimed at widening access and increasing penetration. It sells premium products under Minimalist and Simple brands. “There are 200 million women stepping out to work. As they do that, this country is becoming hotter, so you can imagine the need for a basic sunscreen is very high,” said Priya Nair, managing director and CEO of Hindustan Unilever.

Digital-first beauty care firm Honasa Consumer said sun protection is one of the largest and fastest-growing categories in its portfolio, with The Derma Co’s sunscreen business among categories that have crossed the ₹100 crore annual recurring revenue (ARR) mark.

Its D2C peer Mamaearth’s management expects sunscreen to become its next ₹100-crore ARR category.

Honasa pointed to a broader shift in consumption, with sunscreen moving from occasional use to daily protection, and room for growth. Sunscreen accounts for just over 6% of the Indian skincare market, compared with close to 11% in the US and South Korea, it said.

Premium beauty companies such as Shiseido and L’Oreal are focusing on consumers’ increasing awareness about formulations and sun protection to push sales.

Nicole Tan, chief executive for APAC at Shiseido, said the Indian market was at “an inflection point, where consumers are building that awareness, and having a more demanding attitude to sun care.” While there are many mass brands, the prestige segment remains largely “underserved,” she added.

L’Oréal India CEO Jacques Lebel said sun care would remain on the company’s radar over the medium to long term, with brands such as La Roche-Posay and CeraVe at the premium end and Garnier in the mass segment. He said digital education is making consumers “more in tune with their needs.”

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New-age brands such as Dot & Key, Deconstruct and Re’equil have also built significant parts of their portfolios around sunscreen. Tough competition has brought greater scrutiny of sunscreen claims. In 2025, HUL and Honasa were involved in a legal dispute over a Lakme advertisement that questioned the efficacy of SPF 50 sunscreens sold by digital-first brands. The dispute was eventually settled, but brought SPF efficacy, testing and protection levels into sharper focus.