Consumer Health

While sales of analgesics are seeing mid-single-digit growth in current value terms in 2023, sales have seen a steep decline in retail volume terms. The main reason for this disparity between value and volume growth in analgesics is the sharp rise in…

Sales of analgesics are seeing robust growth in current value terms in 2023, continuing on from the steady performance seen in 2022. During 2022, sales of analgesics benefited from a sudden peak in cases of flu in the middle of the winter. This was…

Following strong growth between 2020 and 2022, analgesics saw much more moderate current value growth in 2023 as the COVID-19 pandemic began to wane. Rising inflation as a result of the energy crisis stemming in part from the war in Ukraine is…

Analgesics has experienced a fluctuating performance in the last few years, as demand has been significantly impacted by the dramatic changes to consumer lifestyles resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. With the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, many…

Value sales of analgesics in France continue to record solid growth in 2023 following a dynamic performance the previous year. The key growth driver is the increasing demand for acetaminophen, with the brand Doliprane from Sanofi, convincingly…

Consumption of analgesics continued to increase in Germany during 2023, after the demand spike in 2022, a year in which consumers were often experiencing flu and colds in the post-pandemic period and therefore OTC medicines, such as analgesics, were…

Upon the lifting of all COVID-19 related regulations, including the compulsory use of face masks, social distancing rules and compulsory self-isolation, there has been a surge in illness which has been a major contributor to sales growth for…

Analgesics sales are returning to more normal patterns in 2023, following the fluctuations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp price rises seen in 2022. On balance, current value growth rates are still elevated compared to pre-pandemic…

Analgesics is expected to see a single-digit growth in current value terms in 2023. Sales are benefiting from the stable demand for analgesics and unit price increases linked to rising price lists as a result of the higher cost of production faced by…

Per capita consumption of analgesics continued to increase in Norway during 2023 after 2022 saw significant increases in consumption of these products. While there was some stockpiling of analgesics seen in Norway during the early stages of the…

Analgesics recorded a significant increase in retail volume terms in 2021 and this was followed by even more dynamic growth in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic and the tough restrictions introduced in 2020 and the beginning of 2021 in order to prevent it…

Since 2020, a factor supporting the growth of analgesics was the increased tendency of doctors to prescribe acetaminophen, among other common types of analgesics, as a way of managing the symptoms of patients with COVID-19, including muscle and joint…

Analgesics remained a key product area within consumer health in Sweden in 2023, having accounted for close to a quarter of overall OTC value sales. The most popular analgesics were those based on active ingredients acetaminophen or ibuprofen, with…

Analgesics has witnessed a return to positive volume growth in 2023, driven by the recovery of adult acetaminophen as a stronger flu season took hold in Switzerland. As the incidence of cold and flu increases, so does the use of analgesics in…

While most categories of analgesics are set to witness decreases in retail volume sales over 2023, this is largely due to spikes in sales in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as stress and anxiety levels increased. In 2023, many…

Analgesics is recording another strong year of current value growth in 2023, albeit at a slower rate than in 2022. Growth is particularly dynamic in the paediatric segment, especially for acetaminophen and ibuprofen, driven by the outbreak of…

While its demographic profile remains one of the most youthful in Europe, Turkey is steadily aging, with a gradually rising median age of population. Turkish people are living longer, with life expectancy rising. As such, the growth in the…

The briefing introduces the Cities Households Necessities Spending Index. The index ranks 1,075 cities by household expenditure on non-discretionary items, namely food, housing, and clothing and footwear. This analysis focuses on 160 major cities.…

The World Health Organisation declared the end of the COVID-19 health crisis in 2023 with this having an overall negative impact on sales of consumer health in retail volume terms. For example, demand for products with a strong focus on immune health…

Consumer health in Belgium continues to see steady growth in current value terms in 2023, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in the previous year. Among the most dynamic categories are analgesics, sleep aids (driven by high stress levels among the…

Consumer health in Denmark is registering solid current value growth in 2023, albeit at a slightly slower rate than seen in the latter half of the review period; however, this growth is partly driven by strong inflation, which has resulted in price…

Consumer health in Finland is seeing moderate current value growth in 2023. On one hand, prices have increased due to inflation, but, at the same time, the poor economic outlook has made consumers cautious in their purchases. Overall, the OTC segment…

Consumer health in France continues to experience growth in 2023. Due to the pandemic, consumers’ immune systems have been negatively impacted. The French healthcare system remains weak and 2022 and 2023 have faced multiple challenges, including a…

Consumer health in Germany was recording moderate current value growth in 2023. While OTC was performing better than vitamins and dietary supplements, it was being outperformed by categories such as sports nutrition and weight management and…

Inflation is a key factor influencing the consumer health market in Greece, with price hikes being seen across most categories. Even though increases in prices vary by brand, most products have been subject to hikes. This has not had the same effect…

Consumer health is witnessing another strong performance in 2023 as the category continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic following the removal of all pandemic-related restrictions. As Irish people shift back to normal living habits without…

Consumer health is set to record moderate single-digit growth in current value terms in 2023. With the pandemic officially over, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Italians are keen to get back to their pre-COVID-19 lifestyles and this…

2023 saw a repeat of the moderate, sustainable growth that was registered in most categories of consumer health during 2022, with the prevailing background trends characterised by a return to some semblance of pre-pandemic normality in the daily…

Overall, consumer health in Portugal is set to record strong growth in retail volume and current value terms in 2023. Demand has remained robust, as local consumers remain health-conscious and are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about the…

Retail volume sales of some consumer health products in 2023 are declining following a surge in demand the previous year when pandemic-related restrictions in April 2022 resulted in Spaniards returning to some extent to their pre-pandemic lives. This…

The Swedish market consumer health saw healthy growth in retail current value terms in 2023, continuing the trend of the previous year. However, this was driven mainly by inflationary pressures, rather than any real upturn in demand. While the rate…

Consumer health witnessed a solid performance in 2023, with current value growth gaining momentum for the fourth consecutive year. Overall there has been little change in the price of OTC products, despite the slightly higher inflation rate in 2023,…

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had a major impact on almost every category within consumer health in the Netherlands. While the COVID-19 situation eased by 2022, 2023 is the first full year after the pandemic in which players, retailers and…

Consumer health continues to experience high retail current value growth in 2023, albeit at a slower rate than 2022. Higher costs of materials, ingredients and services are naturally leading to strong price increases in 2023, thereby driving up value…

Economic instability, characterised by very high inflation, continues to restrain retail volume sales at the end of the review period. The Turkish economy is taking longer than many other countries to recover from the economic effects of Coronavirus…

In the upcoming years, consumers and businesses face an array of challenges, with income inequality, mass migration and rising uncertainty about another crisis being among the major ones. Nevertheless, within this lie untapped opportunities. This…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies received a strong sales boost in 2022 due to consumers returning to working in the office more frequently again and kids returning to in-school classes. This led to consumers spending more time among other…

Sales of cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies are seeing strong growth in current value terms in 2023. This is partly due to inflation-driven price increases (also the consequence of supply shortages in some cases) and an increase in cough,…

Cough remedies and decongestants, which had seen strong growth during the pandemic period, saw more moderate growth in 2022 and 2023 as the contagion receded and public concern waned. Current value sales growth partly reflects inflationary pressures,…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) sales are expected to be slightly down in 2023. This is partly a result of the very strong performance seen in the previous year, as the lifting of COVID-19 related restrictions led to greater social contact and…

Within OTC consumer health in France, value sales of cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies are continuing to record the fastest growth in 2023, following a dynamic performance the previous year. Within the category, demand for various formats…

Cough and cold remedies were recording see high single-digit growth in current value terms in 2023, with sales benefiting from the large number of cases of cold and flu in the 2023/2024 season. Furthermore, value sales were also being boosted by unit…

In May 2022, Greece lifted all COVID-19 related regulations. This included the compulsory use of face masks and social distancing rules, and although use of face masks remains fairly high in Greece compared to other European countries, it appears…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies are enjoying strong growth in 2023 as the category continues to recover from the sharp declines seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Flu, common coughs and colds and seasonal allergies in the Irish…

Cough/cold remedies are set to see high single-digit growth in current value terms in 2023, with sales likely to benefit from a high number of cases of cold and flu in the 2023/2024 season. Furthermore, value sales will likely also be boosted by unit…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies remains the largest OTC category in Norway, accounting for more than one-third of total OTC value sales in 2023. Despite the already relatively high penetration of these products, the category registered…

During the winters 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, the circulation of cough, cold and flu viruses was limited by the restrictions implemented to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Winter 2022/2023 was the first one with no restrictions in place at all and this…

After the surge in sales that cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies experienced in 2022, demand is waning in 2023, with the category recording more subdued growth rates. Traditionally, sales of cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies in…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies remained the largest product area within consumer health in Sweden in 2023. Following a two-year period of buoyant volume growth for most subcategories, demand weakened significantly in 2023, This was due…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies have witnessed stronger growth in 2023, due to warmer weathers and increased time spent out of the home. Warmer weather in Switzerland has led to an increase in pollen and the incidence of allergic…