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Breakdown of OTC medicines by category
The three largest categories in terms of sales in 2016 were pain relief (23.1%), cough, cold and sore throat (19.1%) and skin treatments (17.2%).
Source: Data provided by IRI Group Ltd. Data is for sales of OTC products (including own-label and generic) from all multiples and independent pharmacies and most supermarkets and grocery outlets in Great Britain for 52 weeks to 24 December 2016.
Trends in OTC products by category
Sales in most categories have increased over the past four years, with the exception of smoking cessation and medicated mouthwash, where sales have slightly decreased overall.
Source: Data provided by IRI Group Ltd. Data is for sales of OTC products (including own-label and generic) from all multiples and independent pharmacies and most supermarkets and grocery outlets in Great Britain for 52 weeks to 24 December 2016.
Top 20 brands by sales
RB continued to dominate the branded OTC medicines market in 2016, with 6 products in the top 20 brands. Retailers’ own label products had an 18.7% share of the market.
| Category | Rank 2016 (change and rank 2015) | Brand name | Sales 2016 (£m) | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 1(↔) | Own label | 490.2 | n/a |
| Pain relief | 2 (↔) | Nurofen | 116.8 | RB |
| Pain relief | 3 (↑4) | Calpol | 66.3 | Johnson & Johnson |
| Smoking cessation | 4 (↓3) | Nicorette | 66.0 | Johnson & Johnson |
| Cough, cold and sore throat | 5 (↔) | Lemsip | 63.9 | RB |
| Gastrointestinal | 6 (↔) | Gaviscon | 62.0 | RB |
| Pain relief | 7 (↑8) | Solpadeine | 43.1 | Omega Pharma |
| Pain relief | 8 (↑12) | Voltarol | 39.3 | GSK |
| Skin treatments | 9 (↓7) | Canesten | 39.2 | Bayer |
| Eye care treatment | 10 (↓9) | Optrex | 39.1 | RB |
| Cough, cold and sore throat | 11 (↓10) | Benylin | 36.8 | Johnson & Johnson |
| Skin treatments | 12 (↓11) | E45 | 35.5 | RB |
| Cough, cold and sore throat | 13 (↑15) | Sudafed | 34.4 | Johnson & Johnson |
| Cough, cold and sore throat | 14 (↔) | Strepsils | 34.4 | RB |
| Gastrointestinal | 15 (↑17) | Imodium | 32.7 | Johnson & Johnson |
| Cough, cold and sore throat | 16 (↓13) | Halls | 32.5 | Mondeléz International |
| Smoking cessation | 17 (↓16) | Nicotinell | 31.2 | GSK |
| Gastrointestinal | 18 (↔) | Rennie | 29.8 | Bayer |
| Vitamins, minerals and anti-tiredness | 19 (↔) | Seven Seas | 25.7 | Seven Seas |
| Cough, cold and sore throat | 20 (↑21) | Covonia | 23.8 | Thornton & Ross |
| Source: Data provided by IRI Group Ltd. Data is for sales of OTC products (including own-label and generic) from all multiples and independent pharmacies and most supermarkets and grocery outlets in Great Britain for 52 weeks to 24 December 2016. | ||||
References
Infographic: M Gonzalez
