In 2024, consumer health in Ethiopia faces challenges from high inflation and foreign exchange shortages, impacting the availability and affordability of pharmaceuticals. While inflation is easing, private pharmacies see significant price hikes, and local manufacturers struggle with raw material costs.
The Ethiopian economy has experienced significant inflation over the past year, leading to price increases across various goods and services, including over-the-counter pharmaceutical products sold in pharmacies. However, inflation has been decreasing over the first half of the year, with the National Bank of Ethiopia reporting that year-on-year inflation dropped to 23.
Ethiopia is the second-largest country in Africa by population, with 132 million people as of 2024. The population is predominantly young, with a median age of 18.
Despite major advances in healthcare provision since the turn of the century, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that healthcare provision in Ethiopia is still not universal, with only around 80% of the country’s population covered by the public healthcare system. There are major discrepancies between healthcare coverage in urban and rural parts of the country, while public healthcare facilities are generally underfunded and understaffed and often short of essential supplies.
Ethiopia's logistics sector remains severely underdeveloped, with poor road infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, inefficient goods clearance at the border, a shortage of freight vehicles, and a mismatch between the demand and supply of cross-country vehicles. The price of fuel, a critical component for transporting products, has significantly increased over the past two years, following the government's removal of fuel subsidies in 2022.
The primary legislation governing the manufacture and sale of all pharmaceutical products, including OTC medications, is the Medicines Regulatory Proclamation No. 661/2009.
Vitamins and dietary supplements are classified as food supplements in Ethiopia. According to Section 10 of Regulation No.
Despite the increasing awareness of consumer health products, coupled with rising urbanisation and a high population growth rate, which will expand the market size and demand, high inflation in the Ethiopian economy will likely hinder the conversion of this demand into actual sales. Consumers' purchasing power has been significantly eroded, which means that growth in consumer health product purchases will be modest, with potential declines in some cases.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Consumer Health industry in Ethiopia with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
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Consumer Health
It is the aggregation of OTC, Vitamins and Dietary Supplements (VDS), Sports Nutrition, and Weight Management and Wellbeing
See all of our definitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Consumer Health research and analysis database.
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