Consumer Health in Hong Kong, China

Conditions ripe for market development

The factors underpinning the rise in health-consciousness and driving the development of consumer health around the world are particularly prominent and pressing in Hong Kong. The densely populated urban environment is characterised by hectic lifestyles with high-pressure, long working hours, sedentary working conditions, convenience-orientated diets and round-the-clock socialising, as well as high levels of air pollution.

Vitamins and dietary supplements drive market revival

The Hong Kong consumer health market showed a trend of improvement over the 2013-2018 review period as a whole, with growth in 2018 in line with that of the previous year. The key shift in the market’s performance came from the resurgence of vitamins and dietary supplements and, relatedly, a revival in demand for herbal/traditional products.

Local players benefit from natural trend

The largest player in the Hong Kong consumer health market, Vita Green Health Products, consolidated its leading position over the course of the review period. Along with other local players, including Hin Sang Hong, Vita Green Health Products benefited from the expansion of vitamins and dietary supplements and, particularly, the trend towards products with a “natural” positioning, as long-established traditions of consuming herbal medicines supported consumer wariness of the potential negative impact of frequent, long-term consumption of other products.

Shift in distribution landscape

The trend towards distribution through drugstores/parapharmacies and other healthcare specialist retailers continued in 2018. This was in part underpinned by the strong demand for convenience amongst consumers leading hectic urban lifestyles, as chained drugstores/parapharmacies have extensive, easily accessible store networks, as well as a broad choice of products.

Growing emphasis on developing healthy behaviours

The Hong Kong consumer health market is forecast to see modest growth at constant 2018 prices over 2018-2023, driven by the ongoing development of trends witnessed at the end of the review period. The growing consumer interest in developing sustainably healthy behaviours to counteract the harmful effects of urban living and sedentary working conditions, as well as to ameliorate the effects of ageing, is set to lead to increasingly sophisticated demand across categories such as sports nutrition, weight management and wellbeing, and vitamins and dietary supplements.

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