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Healthcare: Market of medicines without prescription, food supplements and medical care devices grew by 14.4% in 2018
The market of OTC products in Romania, which includes medicines without medical prescription, food supplements and medical devices for personal care, recorded an increase of 14.4% in 2018, compared to the previous year, according to the Romanian Association RASCI.
The overall value of this market segment was 3.552 billion lei in 2018, from 3.104 billion lei, recorded in 2017.
In the last quarter if 2018, the total value of the OTC market segment was 1,023 billion lei, an increase of about 19.3% against the same period of 2017, when it recorded 858 million lei.
In the last quarter of 2018, the highest increase was in the category “Colds, flu and allergies” - 28.3% against the same period of 2017 and of 105.7% compared to the previous quarter, in the context of the flu and cold epidemics at the end of 2018.
In the top of increases for all categories of products compared to the previous chapter, the following positions are held by vitamins, minerals and supplements -17.5%, analgesic products -12.2%, products for gastrointestinal affections - 8.3% and Lifestyle OTC - 5.6%.
The dermatological product category dropped by 26.7% against the previous quarter but recorded growth throughout the whole year.
However, the classification of product categories for the volume of sales and market share is slightly different for quarter 4, 2018. The category “Cold, flu and allergies”ranked first with sales of 270.9 million lei and market share of 26.5%. It was followed by Lifestyle OTC, with sales of 205.3 million lei and market share of 20.1%.
The dermatological product category is the only to register drops compared to the previous quarter, from 84.1 million lei in sales and market share of 10.1% in quarter 3, 2018, to sales of 66.4 million lei and 6.5% market share and Q4, 2018.
During the whole year, the products most in demand were from the category “Cold, flu and allergies”, with sales of 791.5 million lei and market share of 22.3%, followed by Lifestyle OTC, with sales of 764.2 million lei and market share of 21.5%, products for gastrointestinal affections, with sales of 690.5 million lei and market share of 19.4%.
They are followed by analgesics with 479.1 million lei, vitamins, minerals and supplements with 437 million lei. Dermatological products held the last positions in 2018 with sales of 273.6 million lei.
RASCI is affiliated to AESGP (Association of the European Self-Medication Industry), a non profit European organisation is the voice of personal care sector in Europe, gathering 2,000 companies and professional associations.
The association supports responsible administration through correct information and education of consumers and patients in Romania. The most important RASCI initiative is the campaign “About health with responsibility”, an educational action assumed on the long run, carried out since 2017.
(SOURCE PHOTO: shutterstock.com)