Network marketing market report: how much do people engaged in the most “human” business earn and where can a distributor make the highest profits?

It appears at first glance that the direct selling or network marketing market is facing hard times. Users are shutting themselves off from marketing in an increasingly aggressive way - most users have long installed ad blockers in their browsers and are careful about spending their money making fewer impulse purchases. However, in spite of this, network marketing is not only not dying, but is also strengthening its positions.

Since 2009, companies operating in the network marketing format have earned $1.5 trillion! As of 2017, there were 116.7 million distributors working worldwide. Since 2009, they have earned $600 billion in commissions. These are the data set out in the report issued by the Direct Selling Association, the "world's main" direct selling and network marketing company. The Association regulates its member companies, sets trends and rules for them and takes stock of their activities. Its currently available report covers the year of 2017. Today we will present the key figures contained in the report to you.

The network marketing market has been showing a steady growth since 2009 increasing by up to $30 bn every year. In 2017, the market hit record $189 bn!

The philosophy of network marketing is to give customers an opportunity to make money on company products. As of today, the number of distributors working in the networks of major network companies reaches several thousand people! In 2017, distributors around the world made $ 76 bn, and partners throughout the world earned $208 million per day.

The biggest money is made by Asian network companies: in 2017 their income totaled $85 bn representing 45% of the entire market! Europe and North America are at approximately the same level, they made $38 bn and $36 bn, respectively.

As expected, the USA market showed the best results with network companies making $34.9 bn. China nearly caught up with them with its $34.3 worth of network sales in 2017. The leader in Europe was Germany with its $16.7 bn in network sales!

The greatest growth over 5 years (from 2012 to 2017) was shown by network marketing markets of Africa and the Middle East - it increased by 64% from $1.1 bn to $1.8 bn. The global growth totaled 27%.

The most popular product category sold via network marketing is wellness products (dietary supplements, beauty and health products). They are followed closely by cosmetics and personal care products. Ranking third are durable and household items and products.

According to the report date, average annual income made each distributor is $1600. This amount includes both the income from the goods sold by the distributor himself and the commissions from the sales made by the partners engaged by him.

If the USA is the leader in network companies' earnings, Germany leads in distributors' average checks. In 2017, every German distributor sold $18,869 worth of goods. Ranking second is the United Kingdom, where network companies' partners sell $6,724 worth of goods per annum.

Network marketing is a business area that relies heavily on women. Women are 3 times more likely to become distributors for network companies than men: in 2017, the percentage ratio was 74 to 26 respectively. The rationale behind these figures is that such work format allows women to spend more time with their families.