The growth rate of non-prescription drug market in China ranks first in the world

Recently, the self-care satellite meeting in the health care system of the Traditional Medicine Congress and the 16th World Congress/7th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of Self Pharmaceutical Industry were held in Beijing. During the meeting, related parties stated that as of the second quarter of 2008, the average growth rate of non-prescription drug sales in China in the past three years and the growth rate of sales of non-prescription drugs in the latest year ranked first in the world. It is estimated that by 2017, the value of China's non-prescription drug market will exceed 16.3 billion U.S. dollars.

According to the latest statistics from non-prescription drug research company NHC and Jiewei Lianxun, China's 2007 sales of over-the-counter drugs have reached US$7.3 billion, and maintained a growth rate of about 11%, far higher than the average growth rate of non-prescription drugs by 5.4%. Among all non-prescription drugs sold in China, vitamins, minerals, and food supplements account for nearly 40% of total sales, approximately US$2.6 billion; sales of cough, cold medicine and allergy drugs are US$2 billion, ranking second; digestion Drugs, dermatology drugs, and antipyretic analgesics all rank among the top five non-prescription drug sales.

According to Kobewka, general manager of the consumer health division of the IMS market research and consulting company, as of the second quarter of 2008, the growth rate of the global non-prescription drug market surpassed that of the pharmaceutical market for the first time; the value of the global non-prescription drug market has exceeded US$85 billion. Developed regions such as Latin America, Southeast Asia/China, and Central and Eastern Europe have replaced developed countries and become the main force driving the growth of global non-prescription drug sales.

Guo Zhenyu, vice chairman of the China Non-prescription Drugs Association, said in a keynote address that at present, China’s non-prescription drug sales account for 10%-15% of the total market share in the country’s pharmaceutical industry, which accounts for 30%-40% of non-prescription drug sales in some developed countries. There is still a large gap in the proportion, indicating that China still has a large space for development in terms of non-prescription drugs. Experts attending the meeting said that the implementation of the pharmaceutical classification management system in China has been further strengthened, the related policy environment has stabilized, consumers’ awareness of non-prescription drugs has increased, and brand building and enhanced innovation capabilities will help promote faster development of the non-prescription drug market in China.