Condom market shrinks

Condom market shrinks

BANGKOK (DPA): Southeast Asia's economic meltdown is cutting
into condom sales a news report said yesterday.

Thailand's sex industry is expected to shrink 50 percent this
year, as the country enters into a deeper-than-expected recession
and consumer spending dries up, said Jon Gray, commercial
director of London Royal Consumer Products which has an estimated
70 percent market share for condoms in Thailand.

Gray told The Nation daily that Thailand has been among the
company's fastest growing markets, with about 30 million-35
million condoms sold per annum, 70 percent of which were used in
the country's booming commercial sex industry.

He predicted that condom sales in Thailand this year would
grow only 2 percent-3 percent, compared to 10 percent-15 percent
in previous years. Last year the company sold 35 million condoms
in Indonesia and had set a target for 38 million this year.

However, the devaluation of the Indonesian rupiah has hiked
imported condom prices so Gray expected sales to stagnate at 1997
figures. In Singapore, considered a mature market where per
capita condom use has reached 7.8 pieces per annum, Gray expected
5 percent growth in sales.