The study also found that Dettol, Vim and Lifebuoy were the world’s fastest-growing brands, with India and the US accounting for 55% of brand growth in 2020.

Brand Footprint is based on analysis throughout 2020 of one billion households in 52 countries across five continents, covering 85% of the global GDP. As part of the study, Worldpanel tracks more than 22,900 brands across beverages, food, dairy, health and beauty and homecare.

The study found 29 of the 50 biggest FMCG brands grew in 2020, either in the number of households buying them or the frequency of purchases.

After Coca-Cola, which grew purchases by 4% year-on-year, the rest of the top five brands were Colgate, Lifebuoy, Maggi and Lay’s.

Dettol saw 39% growth in 2020, and moving it up from 27th to 16th in the rankings, with hygiene and convenience goods benefitting the most from the Covid-19 pandemic.

While consumers worldwide reduced the frequency of shopping trips, the average spend per trip increased by 11%, with two-thirds of brands on the list finding additional shoppers in 2020.

The top 5 most chosen brands online were Coca-Cola, Heinz, Nescafé, Colgate and Lay’s, and L’Oréal Paris was the most successful online FMCG brand with 17% of its sales happening on the internet.

A Kantar spokesperson said: “The events of Covid-19 turned the previously slow growth of FMCG brands on its head, leading to more of the top 50 being in growth in 2020 than previously seen.

“In 2020, five of the top 10 gains are more extensive than any seen in 2019, pointing to more consistent global growth with shopper gains seen across more markets.”