The average Iranian spends 1 million rials ($22) or 2.2% of total expenditure on beauty products annually, the deputy health minister said.
Iraj Harirchi added that the spending hits 1.4 million rials ($31) in cities.
“Smuggling makes up for 63% or two-thirds of the cosmetics market while 90% of the smuggled toiletries are knockoff products made in neighboring countries, which could cause skin damage,” he was quoted as saying by the ministry’s news portal.
Reza Mousazadeh, an official with the Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange, said an estimated $1.5 billion worth of cosmetics are smuggled into the country annually due to the highly profitable market.
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