India's consumer goods industry is likely to grow at a slower pace this year compared to 2018, according to market research firm Nielsen.

Nielsen expects the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry to grow between 11-12 percent in 2019 versus 13.8 percent growth seen last year.

Historically, for India's FMCG industry, growth rates in election years have always been a tad lower than other years.

“Factors like rising input costs and inflation may also have an impact on overall growth rates for the industry,” said Sameer Shukla, executive director of Nielsen India.

The FMCG sector witnessed a stellar growth last year, driven largely by volumes. Interestingly, 10.7 percent out of the 13.8 percent overall growth in 2018 was volume or consumption driven growth while the remaining was price-led growth. Last year’s volume growth was highest in last 10 years.

Nielsen believes the price-led growth could be slightly higher this year as against 2018, depending on the industry dynamics as well as macro factors.

Nielsen expects the first-half of calendar year 2019 to witness a double-digit growth, but the rate will likely taper down to high single-digits in the second half of the year.

According to the research firm, a conducive macro-economic environment, base effect, rural consumption, benefits of GST and impact of the election are some factors that will shape up the growth story for the FMCG industry in 2019.

First Published:Jan 29, 2019 2:46 PM IST