Italian market overview
The market of food supplements in value and in volume has constantly grown in Italy since 2008, with the COVID-19 pandemic further boosting the overall supplements market in the country. As of 2020, almost 80 percent of food supplements were sold through pharmacies, while the rest were sold by drugstores, large-scale retailers, and online. Globally, the market size of vitamin and mineral supplements is more than 100 million U.S. dollars. In Italy, vitamins and minerals generate the highest revenues among all supplements, accounting for a share of around 26 percent with a value of almost one billion euros. The three supplement categories that experienced the largest increase in sales between early 2021 and early 2022 were for the respiratory tract, musculoskeletal area, and gastrointestinal area.Consumer profile
Italy is the country with the highest expenditure on food supplements per capita among the other European countries, with an average of 63.6 euros per inhabitant spent on food supplements during 2020. Interestingly, the food and health supplements market is highly dominated by female consumers. According to a recent survey, adult women accounted for around 61 percent of food supplement consumers. The average supplement consumer in Italy is aged 35 to 64 years and tends to have a higher level of education.
