According to the latest report According to Intermon Oxfam, the 10 largest fortunes in the world have increased their assets by 698 billion so far in 2025. However, despite the fact that their fortunes are on the rise, the consumption of luxury goods aimed at this type of consumer has only decreased in the last year. Paradoxically, one of the causes of this decrease in sales would be the increase in the number of millionaires that have been created in recent years.
The luxury market has hit the brakes. In 2024, the global luxury products market recorded a drop of 2% compared to the previous year, marking the first decline in fifteen years. Prices and sales of goods such as luxury watches, exclusive mansions, art and liquor have stopped growing and, in many cases, have stagnated or reduced.
For example, the index Knight Frank’s luxury investment portfolio (KFLII), which takes into account the market value of these luxury consumer products, has increased by 72.6% in the last 10 years. But if we take the percentage of the last two years we see that in 2023 it fell by 6.6%, while in 2024 it fell by 3.3%. That is, to try to alleviate the drop in sales, luxury product brands have lowered their prices. This drop in sales of luxury products has been noticed in groups like LVMHwhich has been experiencing negative numbers in its wine and spirits division since 2023.
Has all luxury gone down equally? However, as how they stand out in The Economistnot all luxury has decreased in the same proportion. A look at the Wealth Report 2025 from the consulting firm Knight Frank gives us a clear picture that only a certain type of luxury goods have fallen, while others, much more exclusive and inaccessible They have continued to grow at the same pace.
For example, the high end cars have continued to increase their prices at a rate of 1.2%, as have leather bags from exclusive brands, such as those manufactured by Hermès, which have also maintained their upward trend at a rate of 2.8%. Even a market as bullish as real estate has been altered by the turbulence in the luxury market, reducing its growth rate to just 0.7%.
Changes in the perception of luxury. If the data says that in 2025 not only have increased the number of millionaires but those that 1% of the population each time it’s richer Why have sales of luxury products decreased? The answer lies in Thorstein Veblen, an economist of the late 19th century, who in his book “The theory of the leisure class“has already defined that real luxury depends on its scarcity and exclusivity.
This theory maintains that, if a luxury good is accessible for many peopleit is no longer perceived as exclusive and loses its value. Therefore, as the number of people who, for example, can pay 200 euros for a bottle of wine increases, it is no longer perceived as an exclusive luxury product and its price is devalued.
It’s something similar is happening in the industry luxury fashionwhere “more affordable” brands such as Gucci, Burberry recorded drops in sales of between 15 and 30% while the most exclusive and inaccessiblesuch as Louis Vuitton or Christian Dior, suffered more contained falls of around 1.7%.
Scarcity is the hand that rocks the luxury market. You can’t go to a Hermès store and buy the last Birkin without further adoin the same way as Ferrari makes you wait its millionaire clients more than two years to drive their car. This is not because of a production problem, but because tight control of the amount of product that is put on the market for it to exist a permanent shortage.
This scarcity not only maintains the price in the store, but also keeps it above those that have already been sold, ensuring that their value not only does not go down, but that it increases because of this “exclusivity” caused by scarcity. If it is mainstreamit is no longer luxury.
That concept is what is making some supercar manufacturers they are overturning in creating special editions and even editions One-off to take the concept of exclusivity a little further. Reason that explains that, for example, the invoices for some of these supercars double the price of the base car due to the customizations that are applied to them to make them even more exclusive.
The new forms of luxury: exclusive experiences. Just as I pointed out a study of Bain & Company at the end of 2024, the luxury customer is moving away from those products that are no longer exclusive, and is now betting on something that does maintain that exclusivity: the luxury experiences.
The Economist quote thatFor example, a night at the Le Bristol hotel in Paris costs twice as much today as it did four years ago. Likewise, tickets for the 2026 World Cup final to be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, they have doubled their price compared to previous finals, with prices ranging between $2,030 and $6,730, although on the resale market They can exceed $25,000. Something that is also common in top-level events such as the SuperBowl or the NBA finals.
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