Over-the-counter drugs market revenue to exceed $178 billion by 2024

With well-informed consumers leaning toward self-medication and demanding cost reduction in healthcare, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs market outlook has been witnessing a dramatic transformation in the last few years.

Since OTC drugs do not require a doctor’s visit or a known prescription, these drugs are quite cost and time effective. Many regulatory bodies across the globe that are responsible for deciding which drugs should be available over the counter and which should be sold only based on a prescription, are now shifting an increasing number of medicines from the prescription to over-the-counter segment. A study by CHPA in fact, had stated decades earlier, that this paradigm switch is likely to save close to $20 billion every year. The backdrop of cost-saving coupled with public demand has indeed propelled OTC drugs industry that is expected to depict a profitable growth path over 2017-2024.

Vitamins, minerals, and health supplements comprise an essential chunk of global OTC drugs market. Consumers in developed nations such as the USA, UK, Germany, and Japan who are more aware of the benefits of taking vitamins and minerals as supplements, have depicted a tendency to purchase such medicines and administer them without the requirement of a visit to the doctor. With changing lifestyle demands such as requirement for weight loss, increased hair growth, and more, many consumers have been increasingly depending on OTC drugs, which is likely to massively stimulate over-the-counter drugs market share. Apart from supplements though, cold, cough, and flu medication and analgesics constitute a major share of OTC drugs market. Like health supplements, these are also used by consumers without the requirement of prior advice from the doctor, owing to which OTC drugs market size from these segments has been exhibiting an exponential growth graph.