Eastern Europe

Consumer health is expected to register moderate constant value growth in 2023. Continuing economic uncertainty as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and high inflation is continuing to have an effect and consumers are expected to be highly…

While consumer health in Hungary is set to post robust growth in total current value sales in 2023, this is primarily due to inflationary pressures fuelled by the global recovery from the pandemic, the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the…

Consumer health in Latvia continues to recover from the pandemic in 2023, with major categories seeing demand patterns rebalance as lifestyles shift back normality. Economic uncertainty is prevailing with inflation remaining high in 2023, a trend…

2023 marks the final year that the outbreak of COVID-19 impacts results. Product areas that gained sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic are returning to purchasing levels and behaviours seen before 2020. Similarly, those negatively impacted by the…

Despite higher standards of living in North Macedonia, economic challenges resulting in low disposable incomes remain, with the situation further exacerbated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. This has led to double-digit inflation, which is increasing…

The consumer health industry in Poland registered a decline in constant value terms in 2023, following the static performance of the previous year. This was against a backdrop of rising inflation, exacerbated by the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine,…

Despite ongoing economic instability and the high rate of inflation, the consumer health market in Romania is witnessing steady growth in 2023. Notably, it is the categories of vitamin and dietary supplements, cough, cold and allergy (hay fever)…

The second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023 saw declining demand for many areas of OTC healthcare. This was linked to high inflation and the related decline in disposable incomes. Consumers have turned away from buying non-essential products…

Consumer health in Slovakia is affected by changes in purchasing behaviour as a result of the fading Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the effects of the war in Ukraine and a cost of living crisis amid high inflation. However, the issue of high…

Due to the war in Ukraine, increasing energy and production costs, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19, prices have inflated significantly in Slovenia. This has been the primary reason for high current retail value growth in 2023. Levels of retail…

In 2022, consumer health in the Czech Republic was challenged by medicine shortages, which, to some degree, continued in Q1 2023. The lack of some medicines in the Czech Republic and throughout Europe was caused by the disruption of global supply…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) continues to rebound following the declines during the COVID-19 pandemic and the slow recovery in its aftermath. Unit prices have been driven up by inflation resulting in double-digit current value growth in 2023,…

Price sensitivity among Bulgarian consumers is a key factor influencing their purchasing decisions when it comes to cough, cold, and allergy (hay fever) remedies. As the minimum wage in Bulgaria is just under EUR400 in 2023, a significant portion of…

During the last couple of years, the flu season was virtually non-existent as a result of Croatians staying at home and, when venturing out in public, wearing face masks, maintaining social distance and frequently washing their hands. This…

Whilst the category continues to record growth in 2023, the particularly high growth level seen in the previous year could not be maintained. 2022 was a strong year for the category as consumers returned to their pre-pandemic lifestyles following the…

Analgesics is expected to register moderate constant value growth in 2023. Though there was widespread severe flu in early 2023, cough and cold remedies are not expected to benefit to a huge degree, as most of these patients were hospitalised or put…

Most cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies categories in Hungary are set to expand in volume terms in 2023 or record slower rates of decline than in 2022. Similar to the case with analgesics, the need for these products has been bolstered by…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies in Latvia is registering moderate growth in 2023 as the category begins to stabilise post-pandemic. Retail value sales rebounded strongly 2022 after two years of decline, with lifestyles shifting back to…

2023 marks the year when the cough and cold landscape is set to lose its uplift due to COVID-19, returning to a level closer to that seen pre-pandemic. Sales have continued to benefit from harsh seasonal colds and the flu season of 2022-2023.…

Cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies is seeing slower growth in 2023 due to a shorter cold season caused by milder winter 2022/2023. The exception is antihistamines, which continues to grow at a solid rate due to high consumer demand amidst…