Consumer health has seen slightly higher growth overall in current value terms in 2020 compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, growth has remained largely in line with the review period average, with economic pressures preventing any more significant gains. When COVID-19 first appeared in South Africa there was some initial stockpiling...
The Malaysian Government implemented the Movement Control Order (MCO) from 18 March to 4 May in an effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. There followed the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) – between 4 May and 10 June, and the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) – between 10 June and 31 August. All...
COVID-19’s arrival in Finland has been affecting consumer health categories differently. Many saw sales soar during lockdown as Finns stockpiled, with acetaminophen demand enhanced by media reports that the product helps tackle symptoms of COVID-19. Similarly, many more smokers have purchased smoking cessation aids in response to news articles...
Consumer health in Slovakia is expected to show considerable resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite troubling economic circumstances, many consumers saw consumer health products as indispensable and continued to buy them despite decreasing incomes. Initial stockpiling in March did cause some product shortages, particularly...
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the consumer health market in Hong Kong. Key to this has been border closures. Hong Kong’s consumer health market relies heavily on mainland Chinese tourist inflows, which generate around 20-30% of total sales. These consumers cross the border to purchase health products in Hong Kong because Hong Kong...
The impact of the 19 pandemic on sales of consumer health products in Saudi Arabia was not as pronounced as in many other countries for the simple reason that many OTC products in Saudi Arabia are covered by health insurance policies. This means that many people rarely, if ever purchase their OTC products at full price via normal retail channels. Consumer...
The emergence of the pandemic in Colombia and subsequent lockdown by the government in an attempt to control the spread of the virus resulted in rising unemployment and decreasing disposable incomes, and led to many local consumers prioritising their spending on essential purchases, including groceries and medicines. Consumer health therefore,...
The measures taken to control COVID-19 have had a significant impact on consumer health in Portugal, with consumers pushed to take a more proactive approach to their health. The impact started to be felt in March with consumer fears and concerns being heightened by reports of widespread cases of COVID-19 in neighbouring Spain. Consumer...
In response to COVID-19 the Swiss government introduced a range of measures to limit the spread of the virus, with this having a mixed impact on the various categories of consumer health. Nonetheless, there was an overall improvement seen in 2020, spurred on by stronger sales in key categories including analgesics, cough, cold and allergy...
COVID-19 had a significant impact on consumer health in Austria in 2020 with it resulting in consumers reassessing their priorities and focusing on their immediate concerns. As concerns rose about the threat posed by COVID-19 many households started stocking up on products that were perceived to treat the symptoms of the virus, such as analgesics...