Although cost-of-living crises have been putting pressure on consumers’ purchasing power in a number of countries in Middle East and Africa, they can also provide momentum for consumer health sales. Some consumers, unable to afford visits to a doctor, will, instead, take their local pharmacist’s advice on what to take based on their symptoms as they self-medicate to save money. Preventative healthcare is also helping boost sales of products like dietary supplements.
This report comes in PPT.
An expanding population and rising health-consciousness are helping drive growth in Morocco’s consumer health market. This is also being supported by ongoing investment in public awareness campaigns as well as changes to the laws governing distribution, which have made consumer health products more accessible. In addition, increased regulatory oversight has strengthened trust in the safety and efficacy of products among local consumers.
The Algerian government is working to boost local production and gradually reduce imports. It has therefore introduced a ban on certain imported drugs that are produced locally, along with offering tax incentives for local players. Other countries in the region are pursuing similar policies, with drug security part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative, for example.
While pharmacies continue to be the dominant distribution channel in consumer health in countries across the region, e-commerce continues to gain share in a number of markets. While the arrival of the pandemic tended to provide a major boost to e-commerce sales and share in 2020, this channel continues to make gains given consumers are still shifting to shopping online, attracted by the wide product range available and the convenience it offers.
In spite ofalready recording very steep declines in the previous two years, sales of NRT smoking cessation aids continued to fall in Saudi Arabia in 2023. This is due to the government’s provision of tobacco cessation therapeutic programmes and anti-smoking clinics to help smokers quit the habit as part of its Vision 2030 initiative.
It is the aggregation of OTC, Vitamins and Dietary Supplements (VDS), Sports Nutrition, and Weight Management and Wellbeing
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