The number of Taiwanese engaged in multi-level marketing grew to 3.08 million as of the end of last year, from 2.99 million a year earlier, Fair Trade Commission (FTC) statistics showed yesterday.
The growth shows that the business model’s flexibility has attracted more people, commission Deputy Chairman Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾) said.
Multi-level marketing has created an alternative source of income for people who need additional earnings to support their families, he said.
The participation ratio — or the number of people engaged in multi-level marketing to the nation’s population of 23.59 million — reached 12.92 percent at the end of last year, up from 12.13 percent a year earlier, the data showed.
The number of new participants in multi-level marketing was 962,200 last year, up from 956,400 in 2017, they showed.
In terms of age, 741,000 participants were in the 45-to-64 age bracket, ahead of 734,200 people in the 20-to-44 age bracket and 221,700 in the age bracket for people 65 and older, the data showed.
The number of women participating in multi-level marketing has also increased, reaching 2.16 million last year, accounting for 69.99 percent of total participants, up from 68.32 percent the previous year, Perng said.
Women were the major force in multi-level marketing activities, Perng said, adding that some housewives favor the business model, as it gives them the flexibility to build up their careers while taking care of their families.
However, sales generated through the multi-level marketing business last year totaled NT$83.03 billion (US$2.66 billion), down 6.31 percent from a year earlier.
Perng attributed the decline partly to rising e-commerce, which competes against multi-level marketing.
The drop in revenue also shows that some companies have bowed out of multi-level marketing, with food supplements and cosmetics and skin care product vendors suffering the steepest fall in sales, he said.
It was the first revenue decline in three years for the multi-level marketing business, commission data showed.
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