Sales of vitamins and dietary supplements in the United States, Britain and Italy rose over 50 percent between 1994 and 1998, driven by increasing health awareness and the growing acceptance of self-medication.

Leading market research analyst Euromonitor said in its report "Vitamins and Dietary Supplements: The International Market" that the expansion of retail distribution channels had helped boost sales.
It said Japan was the biggest market with over-the-counter sales running at $10.7 billion in 1998, more than 10 times the size of any of the European markets.

It said growth in the U.S., where sales topped $6.76 billion in 1998, was driven by strong demand for herbal dietary supplements prompted by growing media interest in the subject.

Dietary Supplements in the Lead

Euromonitor said dietary supplements, including mineral and calcium ingredients as well as fish oils, tonics and bottled nutritional drinks, made up the largest sector in Japan, the United States, Germany, France and Spain.

Vitamins overtook dietary supplements in Italy and Britain during the period 1994-98.

Euromonitor said manufacturers would start to introduce more sophisticated products and would target particular consumer groups like pregnant women and children.

"In terms of sales the widening of distribution combined with private label growth will generally lead to lower prices, thus negatively impacting the total value of the market," Euromonitor said.

" However this will be outweighed in most countries by the positive effect of greater volume sales following from wider availability."