Western Europe

While digitalisation was already gaining momentum in Spain over the review period, the emergence of the pandemic and subsequent home seclusion, resulting in prolonged time spent at home working remotely and online studying, increased time spent in…

Eye discomfort, including dry and itchy eyes and eye fatigue is becoming increasingly commonplace amongst the Portuguese population. Many companies are still allowing employees to continue to work from home, when it is possible, at least for part of…

Eye care sales are set to rise in 2023. The increasing use of digital screens for both work and leisure, with smartphones becoming ever more central to virtually every area of consumers’ lifestyles, is driving up the prevalence of a variety of eye…

Digestive remedies is experiencing a mixed performance in 2023, following an upturn in demand for some products the previous year in line with greater mobility outside of the home as pandemic-related restrictions eased. IBS treatments, antacids,…

Sales of digestive remedies are set to record significant positive volume and value growth in 2023. With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring the health emergency to be over in May 2023 life in Portugal has returned to relative normality,…

The digestive remedies category is set to achieve a solid growth rate in 2023. Several areas are seeing a positive performance, with some being driven by the increase in travel since the ending of COVID-19 related restrictions, while others have been…

While value growth of dietary supplements is slowing as economic pressures hinder more frequent purchases by consumers, the category remains a more dynamic performer than vitamins in 2023. Although health and wellness have become the primary concern…

After a sharp spike in growth in retail volume terms in 2020 following the outbreak of COVID-19, sales of dietary supplements with an immune system positioning continued to normalise in 2023. Ginseng, for instance, looks set to register a significant…

Dietary supplements is set to see sales rise in current value terms while falling at constant 2023 prices in 2023. Rising unit prices due to inflation are a key factor in the current value growth. Moreover, there have been plenty of new product…

After recording strong growth in 2022, sales of many dermatologicals in 2023 are weakening. Declining disposable incomes due to elevated inflation and higher interest rates are eroding the interest of Spaniards in spending on perceived non-essential…

Dermatologicals is set to register positive growth in current value and retail volume terms in 2023. With the WHO declaring the pandemic to be over in May 2023, there has been an increase in socialisation and physical contact between people which has…

Healthy growth in dermatologicals is stemming from launches of value-added products. There was a pause on most new product development activity during the COVID-19 crisis, but with the end of the pandemic, products that had been held back have been…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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 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…