Published : 25/06/2026
Have you ever played with "perler beads"? As a craft that has emerged in the last two years, perler beads are very popular among young people. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg in the handicraft world. Except perler beads, a huge craft economy is emerging.
Data shows that in 2024, the scale of China's craft economy has exceeded 120 billion yuan. So, why has the handicraft economy become so popular so quickly?
Perler beads are easy, cost-effective, popular among young people
Among the various emerging crafts, perler beads can be described as the recent new favourite of young people. In 2025, the total sales of perler beads on major e-commerce platforms amounted to 291 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 896.46%.
Taobao listed it as one of the top ten commodities of 2025, and searches related to fuse beads on the platform skyrocketed by 500%.
So what exactly are perler beads? It involves arranging differently coloured beads into a pattern according to a template, then using an iron or a heat press to heat and set them to complete the piece. What are the characteristics that enable perler beads to stand out from the crowd of craft projects?
Firstly, there is the price advantage. Compared to relatively high-priced emotional consumption items like blind boxes, the pricing strategy of perler beads is extremely cost-effective. In physical shops, you can spend a whole day crafting for just 30-60 yuan (RMB, same below), and the low price attracts a larger customer base. Even perler beads from leading brands cost only 5.28 yuan per thousand beads.
Secondly, perler bead crafting is simpler than other craft projects and has a low barrier to start. Unlike pottery, embroidery, or knitting which require skills or art background, the entire perler bead crafting process is simple and repetitive, requiring almost no experience to create a complete piece. The finished products can be combined with accessories to make practical daily items like charms or magnets, allowing players to gain an immediate sense of accomplishment.
In short, perler beads precisely meet the expectations of contemporary young people for leisure activities—they do not require a large investment of money or time, yet they provide the emotional value of healing, creation, and sharing, and have therefore quickly carved out a niche in the craft market.
Handicraft economy surpasses 120 billion in scale
If we turn back time more than ten years, there were already mainstays of the craft economy such as pottery wheel throwing, fabric embroidery, and wood carving and seal engraving, which formed the most original prototype of the craft economy.
In recent years, the scale of the craft economy has grown substantially. By 2024, the market size of China's craft economy had exceeded 120 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate as high as 27.3%, in which the growth of both DIY craft supplies and physical shops exceeded 30%.
Data shows that 6,955 craft-related enterprises were registered throughout the year of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 31%. The craft economy not only provides an emotional sanctuary for people but has also injected new vitality into employment and consumption.
Over 7,000 New Craft Enterprises in One Year, with an Increasingly Mature Industrial Chain
In recent years, the trend of "everything can be handmade" has brought more handicraft projects into the public eye, and has built a complete industrial chain, covering finished products, consumables, and various offline scenarios.
This increasingly mature industrial chain is centred on handmade products, with a variety that has become increasingly rich with the development of the times, and is no longer limited to the scope of traditional crafts.
In addition to fuse beads, new top trends such as resin flow art, cream glue decorations, and Tufting (a weaving technique that uses a tufting gun to punch yarn into a backing fabric at high speed) have also emerged in recent years, covering more diverse applications and balancing both practicality and aesthetic appeal.
Supporting the prosperity of the handmade products market is a refined and specialised supply chain for consumables, which is also the key cornerstone for the scaling of the handicraft economy.
Handicraft raw materials and tools are constantly being upgraded in quality and professionalism, in line with the trend of subdividing popular handicraft categories.
For example, the yarn market used to be dominated by traditional wool and acrylic. Now, specialised yarn suitable for Tufting guns has appeared, and even glow-in-the-dark yarn that can emit light.
In the perler bead market, professional heat press machines that can precisely set the temperature and heating time have appeared, eliminating the need to rely on traditional irons.
Downstream in the industrial chain, a new business format of offline experiences and consumption scenarios has emerged. In 2025, China added over 7,000 handicraft-related enterprises, and handicraft collective stores that integrate DIY experiences, consumable sales, and finished product displays have spread across major urban business districts and cultural and creative blocks.
Healing power of handicrafts: high emotional value
Besides the developmental boost from the industrial level, a deeper reason for the explosive popularity of the handicraft economy is that handicraft creation has inherent qualities of a slow pace, strong participation, and high healing power, which highly align with the emotional and spiritual needs of contemporary young people.
In this highly industrialised and efficient era, handmade seems more precious, and young people are more willing to pay for emotional value.
So, how exactly do handicrafts bring emotional satisfaction? Psychological research shows that the repetitive, focused, and goal-oriented actions of doing handicrafts can easily lead people into a state of "flow" — a pleasant experience of being fully immersed and losing track of time, thereby temporarily blocking out external noise and information anxiety.
The handicraft economy provides an instant feedback mechanism that is hard to achieve in the digital virtual world. Young people in modern society live in a present filled with uncertainty, and are prone to mental anxiety.
However, in the world of handicrafts, every fuse bead and every strand of yarn can be precisely transformed into a tangible result, allowing people to regain uncertainty in their chaotic lives, and create memories that are uniquely their own.
Read more: Why is everyone in China flocking to museums?
Where is handicraft economy heading in the future?
While the market is catching this wave of emotional consumption demand from the handicraft economy and leaving enough room for trial and error for new business formats, it also needs to pay attention to issues such as copyright disputes and material safety.
For example, some handicraft businesses use unauthorised images for production and sales, which is suspected copyright infringement. Some handicraft materials are of substandard quality, with insufficient environmental friendliness and safety, affecting the user experience while also posing safety risks.
This not only harms the legitimate rights and interests of consumers but is also not conducive to the healthy long-term development of the industry.
Although the industry still currently has many shortcomings, the market scale is sufficient to prove that the handicraft economy is by no means a fleeting internet trend, but rather a direct reflection of mass consumption shifting from practical necessities to consumption for emotional value.
In the future, as protection for original creations becomes more complete and the variety of activities and scenarios continues to enrich, it is believed that the handicraft economy can establish long-term roots in the market and develop in a sustained and stable manner.
Read more: Anything can be rented in China? Rental economy exceeded 4.2 trillion RMB