How much does the average US family spend on OTC products (for pain,
antiacids, asthma, etc... the whole OTC market); and how much does the
average single person spend on OTC items? |
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
05 Aug 2005 17:04 PDT
scottcompany-ga,
There are only a few statistics available on the size of the OTC
market, unless you're willing to spend $1000 or more on a proprietary
market research report.
The OTC market in the US ranges anywhere from $16-28 billion, or more,
depending on who's counting -- different researchers define the market
differently (for instance, is toothpaste an OTC product?...depends on
who you ask).
I can certainly use the available range of numbers to figure out
average per family and per capita expenses. But I don't think you'll
find detailed demographics (e.g. expenses for single people vs
married).
Let me know if the numbers I am suggesting would meet your needs.
Thanks,
pafalafa-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
scottcompany-ga
on
06 Aug 2005 07:15 PDT
Thank you for this start.
I'm keen to find out about OTC items that are more about medication
than general health and beauty items... so not toothpaste, rather OTC
items that substitute for a doctor and prescription, so antacids, pain
relief, alergy relief, asthma, cough, cold, flu and so forth... even
if you get a rough market size that would be very helpful.
We know most purchasing is done by Moms for families... but we're
interested to see if you can find out how much a person (or a family)
might spend on such products each year. Of course this will differ
quite a lot person to person... but anything you could find would be
great.
thanks so much
|
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
06 Aug 2005 11:03 PDT
Scottcompany-ga,
Here's my take on OTC purchases, based on the available data. I'm not
sure there is much more that I can add to this analysis. Please look
it over and let me know what sort of additional information you feel
you need to make for a complete answer to your question.
Thanks,
pafalafa-ga
=====
Kline & Co. is the probably the most well-known and well-respected
market analysis firm covering the chemical and pharmacuetical
industries. I have used their studies in the past, and they are
solid, well-documented, and thorough.
According to this Kline & Co press release from July 2005:
http://www.klinegroup.com/6_20050721.htm
PRIVATE LABELS MAKING STEADY INROADS INTO U.S. NONPRESCRIPTION DRUG MARKET
the size of the OTC market in the US was $16 billion in 2003 (the most
recent year that data is available).
Specifically, their release says:
"...Since 1998, the private-label segment of the OTC drug market has
grown from $2.8 billion to $3.4 billion in 2003. This equates to a
1.4% increase in a $16 billion market..."
This is probably your best number to work with. As I mentioned
earlier, other studies cite larger figures, but they appear to take a
more expansive view of what's included in OTC products.
Using the $16 billion figure for the size of the market, we can make
some estimates as follows:
http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/hh1.pdf
Households, by Type-- 2004
112,000,000
So, 112 million households in the US are spending $16 billion on OTC
drugs, which averages out to:
16 billion / 112 million = $142.86 per household per year on OTC products
Similarly, there are
http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2004/NC-EST2004-02.xls
228,621,674 people in the US who are 16 years or older. Assuming
these are the major purchasers of OTC products, then:
$16 billion / 228.6 million = $70 per (adult) person per year
Let me know how well these estimates meet your needs.
paf
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