This report looks at the following areas:
- Market size and forecast for the health supplements market and its segments
- Market share of notable health supplement companies
- Penetration and usage across various health supplement segments
- Purchasing channels for health supplements
- Purchase factors for health supplements
- Functional needs for health supplements
- Attitudes towards ‘blue-hat’ logo certification and imported health supplements
Amid uncertainties in the macroenvironment, health supplement brands must amplify the perceived value of their products to counteract consumers' intentional spending behaviour and the price wars among competitors. In addition, brands should move beyond the serious image often associated with supplements, integrating them seamlessly into consumers' daily lives.
Qianqian Ji, Senior Analyst, China Insights
Market Definitions
This Report covers health supplement products that are certified with either a National Medical Licence Number (国药准字号) or as Health Supplement Food (保健食品) when calculating market size.
Among those with a National Medical Licence Number, only those products registered as OTC (over-the-counter) drugs are included in the market size, while those registered as prescription drugs are excluded.
The market segments include:
- vitamins – single vitamins and vitamin complexes (eg vitamins A, B, C, D, E, vitamin B complex)
- minerals – eg calcium, iron, zinc, selenium, magnesium
- dietary supplements – including animal-based nutritional supplements (eg cod liver oil and e-jiao), and plant-based nutritional supplements (eg garlic oil and spirulina tablets)
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definition
- What you need to know
- The market
- Despite the slow down in market growth due to intentional spending, the long-term growth potential remains stable
- Market factors
- Companies and brands
- The top three companies in the health supplements market remain unchanged, while direct-selling companies face ongoing pressure
- Graph 1: market share of leading companies in the health supplements market, 2022-23
- Marketing activities
- New product trends
- Examples of marketing activities and products that reflect the above -mentioned opinions
- The consumer
- Demand for health supplements remains strong, with essential nutrient supplements and probiotics dominating
- Graph 2: usage of health supplements, 2024
- Graph 3: usage of health supplements – none of the above, 2023 vs 2024
- Domestic ecommerce channels and offline professional channels are more favoured
- Graph 4: purchase channels, 2024
- Easy-to-take health supplement formats have higher user stickiness, while innovative formats need to enhance their integration into daily life
- Graph 5: choice of formats, 2024
- ‘Blue-hat’ logo certification and claims of natural ingredients play important roles in consumer purchasing decisions
- Graph 6: purchase factors, 2023 vs 2024
- Even amid the trend of intentional spending, consumer investment in health supplements continues to grow
- Graph 7: annual spending, 2021 vs 2024
- Strengthening immunity remains the primary need, but demand is gradually becoming more diverse
- Graph 8: functional reasons of purchasing health supplements, 2024
- Health supplements bearing the ‘blue-hat’ logo certification are perceived as more authoritative by new customers
- Graph 9: attitudes towards health supplements, 2024
- Issues and insights
- What we think
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The market
- Market size and forecast
- Retail sales growth has slowed due to intentional spending, but the long-term growth potential remains stable
- Market factors
- Several rounds of soliciting new functions for health foods have invigorated innovation in health supplements
- Traditional TCM ingredients are included in the Catalogue of Health Food Ingredients for the first time
- Amid the trend of intentional spending, enthusiasm for spending on health supplements has waned
- Graph 10: changes in spending on health supplements and medicines – proportion of consumers who reported spending more than last month, 2022-24
- Graph 11: proportion of consumers planning to trade up on health supplements (ie buying more expensive products or brands), 2022-24
- Market segmentation
- Vitamin and mineral supplements are under growth pressure, and product upgrades are anticipated to serve as a catalyst
- Growth in dietary supplements has slowed this year, but as a rising category, it is expected to regain strong momentum
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Companies and brands
- Market share
- The top three companies in the health supplements market remain unchanged, while direct-selling companies face ongoing pressure
- Graph 12: market share of leading companies in the health supplements market, 2022-23
- Marketing activities
- Building a health community as a form of soft marketing helps transform direct selling models
- Claims about youthfulness can appeal to consumers of all ages
- Leverage feel-good elements instead of pain points to appeal to healthy young consumers
- New product trends
- Despite some fluctuations, ‘functional’, ‘natural’ and ‘demographic’ claims are still on the rise
- Graph 13: top three claim categories used in new vitamin and dietary supplement launches, 2019-24
- ‘Bone health’ and ‘energy’ claims have grown for three consecutive years, while cardiovascular and eye-related claims have emerged as surprising frontrunners this year
- Graph 14: top 10 functional health claims for new vitamin and dietary supplement launches, 2019-24
- The popularity of vitamin C is waning, while mineral launches are in high demand
- Amid the trend of intentional spending, health supplement sales on Douyin are growing faster than on other platforms
- Make playfulness, convenience and effectiveness the core of innovative format development
- Health supplements aligned with consumers’ habits can effectively support modern lifestyles
- Leverage age-group specificity and nutritional synergy in formulations to enhance product value
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The consumer
- Usage of health supplements
- Demand for health supplements remains strong, with essential nutrient supplements and probiotics holding an advantage
- Graph 15: usage of health supplements – none of the above, 2023 vs 2024
- Graph 16: usage of health supplements, 2024
- Single vitamin/mineral supplements offer increased potential to tap into ‘whole-family nutrition’
- Focus on targeting young consumers initially to encourage seniors to embrace Western dietary supplements
- Graph 17: usage of health supplements – Western dietary supplements, 2024
- Purchase channels
- Domestic ecommerce channels and offline professional channels are more favoured
- Graph 18: purchase channels, 2024
- Professional channels are more appealing to younger consumers, while convenient channels are more attractive to middle-aged consumers
- Graph 19: purchasing channels, by age, 2024
- Graph 20: purchasing channels, by age, 2024
- TCM supplements have advantages in cross-border channels, but domestic channels may surpass them in the future
- Graph 21: purchasing channels, by usage of health supplements, 2024
- Choice of Format
- Formats that are easy to consume and those integrated into everyday life benefit both customer acquisition and retention
- Graph 22: choice of formats, 2024
- Soft capsules and shots can be utilised for products designed to support ‘whole-family nutrition’
- Graph 23: choice of format – consumers who answered ‘have not tried, but interested in trying’, by age, 2024
- Graph 24: choice of format – consumers who answered ‘have not tried, but interested in trying’, by living situation, 2024
- Senior consumers show a greater interest in innovative formats that build on established ones
- Graph 25: choice of format – consumers who have not tried but are interested in trying, by age, 2024
- Purchasing factors
- The importance of ‘blue-hat’ certification and claims about natural ingredients has significantly increased
- Graph 26: purchase factors, 2023 vs 2024
- Offering safe, effective products that fit consumers’ lifestyles provides a comprehensive solution for attracting health supplement consumers
- Consumers showing early signs of ageing prefer safe supplements with high efficacy, while those preparing for old age tend to favour a milder approach
- Graph 27: purchasing factors, by age, 2024
- Graph 28: purchasing factors, by age, 2024
- Blending playfulness with safety and reliability helps eliminate barriers to choosing between different formats
- Graph 29: purchasing factors, by choice of format – by respondents who have not yet tried but are interested in trying*, 2024
- Annual spending
- Even amid the trend of intentional spending, consumer investment in health supplements continues to grow
- Graph 30: annual spending, 2021 vs 2024
- Young consumers prefer smaller purchases, while middle-aged consumers are more willing to splurge
- Graph 31: annual spending, by age, 2024
- Functional reasons of purchasing health supplements
- Strengthening immunity remains the primary need, but demand is gradually becoming more diverse
- Graph 32: functional reasons of purchasing health supplements, 2024
- The ‘enhance immunity’ claim can be used as a core statement for specific functional products, amplifying their value…
- Graph 33: functional reasons of purchasing health supplements – cross analysis, 2024
- …Which can particularly appeal to consumers who are willing to invest heavily in their health
- Graph 34: functional reasons of purchasing health supplements, by annual spending, 2024
- ‘High ingredient content’ and ‘natural’ are selling points that enhance product competitiveness
- Graph 35: purchasing factors, by functional reasons of purchasing health supplements*, 2024
- Attitudes towards health supplements
- As an authorised label, ‘blue-hat’ certification holds greater importance among new customers of health supplements
- Graph 36: attitudes towards health supplements, 2024
- While imported health supplements are losing appeal, ‘imported’ claims may still benefit products targeting male reproductive health and weight management
- Graph 37: attitudes towards health supplements, by gender, 2024
- Graph 38: attitudes towards health supplements, by functional reasons of purchasing health supplements, 2024
- ‘Blue-hat’ certification, complemented by detailed and accessible explanations, is key for domestic health supplements to capture the reproductive health segment
- Graph 39: attitudes towards health supplements, by functional reasons of purchasing health supplements, 2024
- Mild and non-allergenic formulations, along with TCM formulations, help capture the interest of households with elders and children
- Graph 40: attitudes towards health supplements, by usage of health supplements, 2024
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Issues and insights
- Key factors for enhancing the perceived value of health supplements: exploring opportunities in ingredient combinations and new functions
- Amid slower growth in health supplement value sales, increasing the perceived value of formulations will strengthen product competitiveness
- Create all-around products with blended formulas
- Explore new ingredient benefits to seek additional growth drivers
- Marketing and product examples that reflect the above-mentioned conclusion
- Snack formats are poised to regain attention in the health supplements market
- Innovation in health supplements centred around snack-like formats and playfulness is rebounding
- Graph 41: format types to watch in vitamins and dietary supplements, 2019-24
- In the short term: brands can focus on differentiation-driven innovations to address consumers’ demand for safety and high effectiveness
- In the medium term: develop health supplements in food-like formats to meet consumers’ preferences for both eating tonic food and lifestyle-oriented options
- In the long term: leverage emerging technologies to expand the scope of product innovation
- Channel strength + brand strength: the breakthrough strategy for direct-selling companies
- With the diversification of channels and brands, direct-selling companies must urgently transform their business model
- From a channel perspective: integrate the professionalism and experiential features of offline channels with the convenience of online channels to create synergy
- From a brand perspective: leverage cultural marketing and gifting occasions to enhance brands’ potential amid uncertainties in the broader environment
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Appendix – market size and forecast, research methodology and abbreviations
- Market size and forecast
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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