According to Euromonitor International, global sales of consumer health products will reach USD $217 billion globally in 2016—a 3 per cent growth from 2015. Of this, 45 per cent of sales will be made up by over-the-counter (OTC) medicine at USD $98.5 billion, driven by prescription drugs switching to OTC.
“An important push to switch drugs from prescription to OTC or non-prescription drugs continues to bring new market expansion opportunities for firms,” says Monica Feldman, head of consumer health industry research at Euromonitor. “This is especially true in the therapeutic areas of respiratory and digestive health and esomeprazole.”
Moreover, the U.S. continues to dominate the consumer health space at 31 per cent of the overall industry (worth USD $67 billion). When paired with China, Japan, Germany and Italy, these five countries comprise 61 per cent of global sales within consumer health, confirming that the industry is mainly driven by developments in a few geographies. This finding also signals an opportunity for market expansion in other countries with only 1 to 2 per cent global share in 2016, including South Korea, France, India and Mexico amongst others.
“This year, the new proposition for consumer health is founded on a formidable shift toward lifestyle and wellness programmes supported by a holistic approach to self-care,” Feldman continues. “These factors will create a unique window of opportunity based on the personalization of consumer health.”
