Growth forecasts for the Polish market of dietary supplements - December 2011

In 2011-2013, the market of dietary supplements in Poland will develop at a rate of 9-15% annually, according to the latest report published by PMR entitled „Dietary supplements market in Poland 2011. Development forecasts for 2011-2013”. Although the market growth rate is lower than in the preceding year, it should be noted that it still will be very high, e.g. higher than the rate for OTC medicines. PMR assumes that the trends which prevailed in the previous year and positively stimulated sales will continue. These trends include the aging population, growing interest in self-treatment, healthy lifestyle and healthy appearance, natural and herbal products.

In 2007-2010, a growth rate of the Polish dietary supplements market gradually flattened to equal merely 4% in 2010, hitting a ten-year low. Generally, in 2010 the whole pharmaceutical market, including manufacturers of health products, such as dietary supplements, reported relatively low growth rates. This was mainly a result of a high base effect of 2009, when due to a large number of infections and a panic caused by swine influenza, sales of OTC products climbed notably in spite of the global financial crisis. At the same time the 2010 growth rate was adversely affected by the economic crisis in Poland and although the GDP doubled relative to 2009, Poles’ purchasing power was still rather weak.