40% of jobs in the personal image sector (hairdressers, barbershops and beauty salons) have been destroyed in the last four years and during the last three years their average annual turnover loss has been 26%.

The Business Alliance for Personal Image has released this Saturday the Study VII Wave of Economic Situation of the Sector, which has been carried out with a consultation to 1,663 establishments throughout Spain with the collaboration of employers of the sector, associations and regional federations and personal image platforms.

In 2022, the number of workers per establishment stood at 1.38 employees, compared to 1.43 in 2022 and 2.3 in 2018, before the covid pandemic.

Currently, 41.55% of salons employ only the self-employed owner of the establishment and only one in three salons (26.28%) has more than one hired worker.

Turnover fell by 10.07% in 2022 compared to 2019 – the last year before the pandemic – and by 2023 the study of the Business Alliance for Personal Image estimates that it will do so by 9.78%.

In 2020 (a year with covid restrictions), turnover fell by 38.9%; In 2021 it fell by 31.8% compared to 2019 and in 2022 it fell by 10.07%.

Over the past three years, the average annual turnover loss has been 26%.

In addition, the study indicates that in 2022 costs increased by 27.2%, mainly due to higher energy prices; while the sector has only raised prices on average by 2.48%.

Given the situation, the Business Alliance for Personal Image has announced new acts of protest to demand the lowering of VAT in this sector in the face of the different electoral appointments that will be this year in Spain, in order to demand that the political parties integrate this petition into their electoral programs.

According to the data of their study, 96.64% of respondents believe that this measure would serve to alleviate the “tax grievance” suffered by the personal image sector compared to other sectors that also had their VAT raised in 2012, but that have already returned to lower rates.