In recent years, lifestyles have continued to change, and the concept of healthy eating has become increasingly ingrained in people’s daily lives. This has unleashed a surge in demand for supplemental health products. Consequently, dietary supplement manufacturers are strengthening their R&D capabilities and enhancing product innovation across various functional areas.This blog will discuss into dietary supplement industry for all over the world.
Definition of the dietary supplement industry
Dietary nutrition is an essential material foundation for human life, growth, development, and health. While there’s no standardized definition for the dietary supplement industry, most countries around the world have legal definitions for similar products. These refer to as dietary supplements in the United States, food supplements in the European Union, and complementary medicines in Australia.China’s “Regulations on the Registration and Filing of Health Foods” define health foods as encompassing both narrowly defined health foods (specifically those with “Blue Hat” certification) and nutritional supplements. The products refer to by each concept are generally consistent.
From the perspective of the industrial chain, the dietary nutrition supplement industry is mainly compose of nutritional raw material suppliers, preparation manufacturers, and terminal brand owners.
Global industry overview
With the improvement of living standards and the increasing awareness of people’s health, the demand for dietary supplements is growing, and the market size is expanding year by year. Influenced by factors such as public health events, consumers’ health awareness is rapidly increasing, further fueling healthy consumption and significantly promoting the rapid development of the industry.
In 2017, the global consumption scale of dietary nutritional supplement industry was US$128.361 billion, which increased to US$176.170 billion in 2022. The industry is developing well and will continue to grow. It is estimated that dietary nutritional supplements will be close to US$200 billion in 2025.
In 2023, global sales of dietary supplements exceeded US$187 billion, and are expected to maintain a steady growth rate of 6% in the next three years, reaching US$223 billion globally by 2026.
From a national and regional perspective, dietary supplement consumption is primarily concentrate in the United States, Europe, Australia, Latin America, and Asia. The dietary supplement industry in the United States, Europe, and Australia developed earlier, resulting in more mature markets and stable demand. Latin America and Asia, emerging markets for dietary supplements, have seen rapid growth in recent years. An overview of the major global regional markets is as follows:
US market
The United States has long been the oldest and most mature market in the dietary supplement industry, consistently ranking first in market size. In 2019, US dietary supplement sales reach $48.669 billion. Despite its leading position, the US market continues to show sustained growth, maintaining its leading position globally.
European market
Europe is one of the main markets for dietary supplements. In 2019, the consumption scale of the European dietary supplement industry was US$25.473 billion, compared with US$19.530 billion in 2011, with an average annual compound growth rate of 3.38%.
Australian market
The Australian dietary supplement market maintain overall industry growth of approximately 6% through 2023. After years of development, the Australian market has become relatively mature, with per capita annual spending reaching US$207, second only to North America and significantly higher than other regions globally.
Compared to most other countries and regions, Australia’s market regulation of dietary supplements is more stringent. The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) classifies dietary supplements as pharmaceuticals, subjecting them to unified oversight as supplemental medicines. This ensures a transparent regulatory process at every stage of dietary supplement production, maximizing product safety and stability. TGA certification is one of the most challenging product approval standards for global market access, with 26 countries directly recognizing Australia’s TGA Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Australian dietary supplements are highly sought after by consumers.
Latin America
The Latin American dietary supplement market is experiencing rapid growth. In 2019, the region’s dietary supplement industry reached US$11.2 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate of 9.09% compared to US$5.6 billion in 2011.
Asia (excluding Japan and China)
Economic growth and rising health awareness in Asia (excluding Japan and China) are driving rapid growth in the nutritional supplement market. In 2019, the dietary supplement industry in Asia (excluding Japan and China) reached US$15.878 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate of 8.54% compared to US$8.241 billion in 2011.
Japanese market
Japan boasts a robust food industry system, clear industry segments, extensive market education, and rational consumption. The industry is developing at a cutting-edge pace, and the concept of health has permeated every aspect of people’s lives. In 2019, the Japanese health food market reached 2,082 billion yen, or approximately 117 billion yuan. In 2020, the market experienced significant fluctuations due to the impact of the public health crisis. However, in 2021, orders from overseas markets, including China, surged, leading to a market recovery and significant growth.
Chinese market
Compared to mature international markets, China’s dietary supplement industry is still in its nascent stages of development. While over 67% of people in the United States and Japan consume dietary supplements daily, the percentage in China is less than 20%. This presents a unique opportunity for growth. With China’s continued economic growth and rising per capita disposable income, the country boasts the largest consumer base for dietary supplements. This includes 260 million people aged 60 and above, who have strong health consumption demands, and over 260 million Generation Z consumers (primarily those born between 1995 and 2009, also known as the internet generation), who possess strong purchasing power for health-related purchases.
Furthermore, there is a clear trend of consumption upgrading, with the concept of healthy consumption gaining momentum. This trend is characterized by a shift towards healthier consumer awareness, a younger demographic, diversified consumption scenarios, and more convenient consumption methods. In the post-pandemic era, market demand for dietary supplements present significant market opportunities for products that promote health and enhance immunity and resistance. In 2023, the sales volume of dietary nutritional supplement products in China reached 225.3 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 11.6% over the previous year, and the industry is developing rapidly.
Dietary supplement market overview
Muscle health market
The muscle health market is a recently emerging subsector of the dietary supplement industry. Muscle, the second largest organ in the human body, directly determines the body’s athletic and mobility capabilities. It is the single most important factor affecting the body’s metabolic rate and is highly correlated with weight management and insulin resistance. Muscle is also closely linked to issues related to middle-aged and elderly people, such as heart health, respiratory problems, hospitalization complications, and falls.
Studies have found that women begin to lose muscle mass around age 35 and men around age 40, decreasing at a rate of 1% to 2% per year. The rate of decline accelerates after age 50, accelerates after age 60, and peaks after age 75. Healthy nutrition is essential for maintaining muscle mass and quality and slowing muscle loss, leading to a rapid increase in demand for muscle health products in recent years. The muscle health market divides into two main segments: sports nutrition and nutrition and health for the elderly, depending on the target population and functional application.
Sports nutrition market situation
Sports nutrition products generally serve multiple purposes during exercise, including providing nutritional support and building muscle. They complement daily diets and can help enhance exercise performance and improve health. Benefiting from the growing popularity and development of health concepts worldwide, the sports nutrition food market has continued to grow. The global sports nutrition market grew from US$10.883 billion in 2014 to US$17.6 billion in 2020, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 8.34%. It is projected that by 2026, the global sports nutrition market will reach US$22.857 billion, maintaining continued high growth.
Regionally, the sports nutrition market exhibits significant disparity in development. The global sports nutrition food market is primarily concentrated in North America, accounting for 62% in 2019. While the Asia-Pacific market accounts for only 14%, its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2018 to 2023 is projected to exceed 16%.
In terms of products, the global sports nutrition market currently has a relatively homogenous product mix, with protein-based products holding the majority of the market share. However, as consumers pursue healthier lifestyles and more proactive sports nutrition intake, the range of sports nutrition products is gradually expanding, with specialized functions primarily covering body shaping and muscle building, bone health, and energy supplementation. These emerging sports nutrition products offer significant growth potential. Among them, body shaping and muscle building sports nutrition products, represented by HMB products, are experiencing particularly rapid growth.
Nutrition and health market situation for middle-aged and elderly people
The global aging problem is becoming increasingly serious. According to the World Health Organization, the proportion of the world’s population aged 60 and over will increase from 12% to 22% between 2015 and 2050. As the pace of population aging continues to accelerate, the nutritional and health issues of middle-aged and elderly people are becoming a major concern for social development.
The aging population is driving rapid growth in the dietary supplement industry. Seniors are more aware of their health, and the anxiety caused by declining physical function leads to a greater focus on health issues. Consequently, their demand and consumption of dietary supplements consistently exceed those of other age groups. In 2020, the market size of China’s elderly care industry reached 7.18 trillion yuan. As a key component of the industry, the market size of elderly dietary supplements has already exceeded 150 billion yuan. Because living standards improve, more and more seniors are prioritizing nutrition, health, and wellness, and dietary supplements have become a vital daily necessity.
As muscle health issues become increasingly prominent among seniors, nutritional and health product manufacturers are increasingly focusing on addressing the issues of muscle loss and decreased mobility in middle-aged and older adults. Nutritional and exercise interventions have a significant positive effect on preventing and treating muscle loss. Preventing muscle atrophy and reducing disability through lifestyle improvements and the healthy intake of nutrients, particularly HMB, is becoming a growing trend among middle-aged and older adults.
Joint health market
The joint health market is an emerging sub-sector of the dietary supplement industry, mainly including two sub-markets: human joint health and pet joint health. Joints are the connection between bones. Muscles connecting bones and joints form the body’s skeletal system. They are a complex scaffold that can support the body’s soft tissues and enable movement. Therefore, joint health and muscle health play an equally important role in the body’s ability to move. Whether it is human joints or pet joints, in the context of frequent joint diseases, effectively supplementing nutrients such as glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate is the main way to maintain joint health. For the two major markets of human joint health and pet joint health, the specific development status is as follows:
Human joint health market situation
Osteoarthritis is a common disease caused by joint cartilage degeneration, bone hyperplasia at the joint margins, synovial lesions, and muscle atrophy and weakness, resulting in joint pain and stiffness. Prolonged activity, in particular, can adversely affect the mobility and quality of life of middle-aged and elderly patients. Globally, the disease affects approximately 4% to 13% of the world’s population.
The global aging population is becoming increasingly severe. The population at high risk for bone and joint diseases is also increasing, driving a surge in demand for related dietary supplements. Among various dietary supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate will be the primary beneficiaries of an aging society. The global bone and joint supplement market reached $9.9 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $14.7 billion by 2027, with an average annual growth rate of 5.8% from 2020 to 2027. Furthermore, the overall market is not yet saturated. Some consumers are still not yet aware of bone and joint care, leaving ample room for growth.
In terms of product offerings, joint health supplements primarily focus on several key nutritional ingredients, including glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, collagen, hyaluronic acid, curcumin, calcium, and vitamin D, resulting in a diverse product mix. This shift in consumer health perceptions has expanded demand for joint health products to a wider audience, not just those with joint problems. Consumers are increasingly opting for active exercise and nutritional supplements to protect their joint health, leading to a more diverse product mix.
Pet joint health market situation
With the growing number of pet owners, the pet consumption market is developing rapidly. As a key branch of the pet industry, pet food represents the largest portion of the market. From 2016 to 2020, the global pet food market’s share of the total pet consumption market increased annually, from 62.10% in 2016 to approximately 71% in 2020. In 2020, the global pet food industry reached US$98.07 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. Long-term, the trend toward high-end and more personalized pet food will be the primary drivers of market growth.
Pet food categorizes into three main categories: staple food, pet snacks, and pet health supplements. Compared to staple food and snacks, pet supplements manufacturing and products categorize into vitamin supplements, nutritional supplements, bone and joint health, gastrointestinal health, coat health, breast milk replacement, and oral health. The continued growth in the pet health supplement market share is primarily driven by increased disposable income, heightened health awareness, and a growing emphasis on pet health among pet owners. As Chinese incomes continue to grow and pet health supplements become more abundant, their share of the pet food market will continue to increase, further squeezing out the market share of staple food.
Currently, pet owners have a high demand for health products for bone and joint health, gastrointestinal health, and coat health. Among dog owners, over 70% have purchased products for bone and joint health, and over 60% have purchased products for gastrointestinal conditioning, vitamin supplements, and coat health.
Conclusion
In short, dietary supplements are constantly evolving and improving, driven by growing public interest and market demand. Different demographics are driving demand for functional dietary supplements, creating new opportunities for product innovation in the industry. Dietary supplement manufacturers should capitalize on this trend and strengthen their product innovation capabilities and brand operations.
