India over the Counter Drugs (OTC) Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2019 - 2024)

Market Overview

The key factors propelling the growth of the Indian over-the-counter drugs market are the shift in consumer attitude toward self-medication, product innovations, and inclination of pharmaceutical companies toward OTC drugs from RX drugs.

India is one of the emerging markets for OTC drugs and offers significant growth potential for the industry. The market is growing in India due to the increasing healthcare expenditure, unhealthy dietary habits, expanding population, and growing healthcare awareness.

The increasing disposable income of people, along with a shift in the consumer attitude toward self-medication and increasing geriatric population are the two major factors driving the overall market in the region. Thus, the increasing awareness about the cost-effectiveness of self-medication and OTC medicines is also a crucial factor fueling the market growth.

There is also the rapidly growing population, which is coupled with the fact that the middle class in these regions is expanding on a large scale, which may add critical mass to the population available to access OTC medication. Thus, the increasing investments of market giants in the emerging market are expected to drive the growth of the overall market.

Scope of the Report

As per the scope of the report, over-the-counter drugs are referred to as the non-prescription drugs. These medicines can be bought by individuals without a doctor's prescription and are safe for consumption without the doctor's consent. There are a wide number of therapeutic applications for OTC drugs ranging from weight control drugs to analgesic drugs, and many more.

Key Market Trends

Analgesics is the Segment by Product that is Expected to Grow the Largest During the Forecast Period

Analgesics accounted for a significant value share of the over-the-counter (OTC) drugs market. OTC analgesics are found to have several applications in the treatment of fever, headache, musculoskeletal injuries and disorders, arthritis, and menstrual cramps that have spurred the overall demand in the market. Other factors, such as obesity, stress, and lifestyle disorders lead to chronic pain and different kinds of aches. The population is widespread in the developed markets, as well as in high economic growth countries, such as India, China. Therefore, in these countries, the population contributes to the increasing demand and growth of analgesics in the market.

Competitive Landscape

The industry players are found focusing on new product development and acquisition strategies to gain market share. The developing countries have also opened new growth avenues for pharmaceutical companies. Thus the market has different challenges and requires innovative products facilitating new innovative OTC drugs.