The number of Americans who are using a physical pharmacy is decreasing. In 2026, only 40 percent said they used a pharmacy, pharmacy counter or department in the past 12 months, down from 59 percent in 2019. At the same time 17 percent of Americans recently said they used an online pharmacy, up from 12 percent in 2020. This is according to a survey by Statista Consumer Insights.
In terms of buying over-the-counter drugs, Americans also used retail stores (28 percent) and other online stores (14 percent) to purchase medications. This is in contrast to countries in Europe or Latin America, where few to no medications are available at regular stores, which is reflected in higher rates of shopping at pharmacies as well. In many markets, this has led to a higher uptake of buying at specialized online pharmacies. This is the case in Germany (37 percent using online pharmacies) and Sweden (44 percent), for example.
The countries staying most true to physical pharmacies, due to regulations or simply habit, are Finland, Spain and Italy at 87 percent, the Philippines at 88 percent and Indonesia at 89 percent shopping there. As the things pharmacies sell differ from country to country, this can also influence shopping uptake. While in some more regulated markets, pharmacies focus on medications as well as select health, beauty, supplement and related products, other countries are seeing pharmacies sell a wide array of drug store and everyday items. In the United States, pharmacy counters are often part of larger drug stores or department stores, limiting actual pharmacy shopping choice.
