As per a new report by Bain & Company, the luxury market could gain 30 per cent probability or exceed $340 billion in sales of high-end items such as apparel, handbags and jewelry in two years.

This is a revision from Bain’s prior forecast of a full recovery by 2022 or 2023, says analyst Forbes. It is being driven by China and the United States’ unexpectedly strong economic rebounds, thanks in large part to swift vaccine distribution.

French luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton announced in April that it had returned to growth in the first quarter, with $16.75 billion in sales across its more than 70 brands. Fashion and leather goods in particular had an excellent start to the year, generating record revenue of $6.7 billion, or 37 per cent higher than the same period in 2019.

Consumers in China have likewise shown incredible resilience. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, retail sales of consumer goods rose 17.7 per cent in April compared to the same month in 2020, 8.8 per cent compared to April 2019. As strong as this growth sounds, it’s a slight slowdown from February and March, when sales increased 33.8 per cent and 34.2 per cent, respectively, over last year.

Looking ahead, China is set to contribute an additional $6.6 trillion in global consumption between now and the end of the decade, according to Hong Kong investment bank CLSA.