OTC/ Consumer Health market in Germany with the most important distributors and importers

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary...................................................................................................................3

2. Market Definition and Scope.....................................................................................................3

3. Market Volume and Structure...................................................................................................4

3.1 Key figures................................................................................................................................4

3.2 Market dynamics.......................................................................................................................4

4. Distribution Channels................................................................................................................5

5. Key Players.................................................................................................................................5

5.1 Leading OTC manufacturers and brand owners........................................................................5

5.2 Leading trade partners..............................................................................................................6

6. Market Opportunities for Foreign Suppliers............................................................................6

6.1 Branded products...................................................................................................................... 6

6.2 Private label and no-name products..........................................................................................7

6.3 Success factors......................................................................................................................... 7

7. Products and Product Groups with Strong Sales Potential..................................................7

8. Market Access Requirements...................................................................................................8

8.1 Requirements applicable to all suppliers...................................................................................8

8.2 Suppliers from the EU/EEA.......................................................................................................9

8.3 Suppliers from non-EU European countries...................................................................................................................................................9

8.4 Suppliers from outside Europe...............................................................................................................................................................................9

8.5 Overview by supplier origin..................................................................................................... ..............................................................................10

9. Directory of Importers and Distribution Partners.........................................................................................................................................11

A. Pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers (Pharmagroßhandel) incl. their pharmacy co-operations...................................11

B. EU parallel importers and re-importers of medicines.............................................................................................................................12

C. OTC and consumer health companies acting as licensing, distribution or acquisition partners

(specialists)..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................13

D. Pharmacy co-operations (listing and marketing gatekeepers)..................................................15

E. Drugstore chains (directly importing retailers – brands and private label).................................16

F. Grocery retail and discount buying centrals..............................................................................17

G. Online and mail-order pharmacies (Versandapotheken)..........................................................18

H. Online shops for food supplements, wellness and beauty........................................................19

I. Organic, natural and health-food wholesale and retail...............................................................20

10. Recommended Market Entry Approach...............................................................................22

11. Sources and Methodology....................................................................................................22

11.1 Methodology..........................................................................................................................22

11.2 Sources................................................................................................................................. 22

1. Executive Summary

Germany is the largest market for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and consumer health products in Europe. Self-medication is firmly anchored in German consumer behaviour: according to YouGov (February 2026), 44 % of Germans take non-prescription medicines as soon as they fall ill, a share that has risen continuously over the past five years, and 61 % are open to alternative medicine. Depending on the market definition, the German market reaches the following size:

• Total self-medication / consumer health market: approx. EUR 15 bn in 2025 (OTC medicines, food supplements, medical devices, derma-cosmetics and other health products in pharmacies, online pharmacies and the mass market). YouGov reports growth of 3.7 % (+EUR 541 m) from 2024 to 2025.

• Non-prescription medicines and health products via pharmacies, mail order and mass market: EUR 13.8 bn in 2024 (IQVIA), corresponding to around 1.7 bn packs.

• Non-prescription medicines (OTC drugs) in the pharmacy market incl. mail order: EUR 6.6 bn in 2025 (stable, –0.3 %), 868 m packs (–4.2 %). The decisive structural change is the shift of sales away from bricks-and-mortar pharmacies: in 2025 their share of self-medication sales fell by 3.2 percentage points, while online pharmacies, drugstores, grocery retail, discounters and specialised online shops gained share. The OTC mailorder business grew to approx. EUR 3.4 bn (+6.3 %). With dm-med, Germany's largest drugstore chain has been shipping pharmacy-only OTC medicines to German consumers from the Czech Republic since December 2025, and Rossmann has announced its own online pharmacy. For foreign suppliers this creates three main entry routes: (1) authorised branded OTC medicines via a German licensing or distribution partner and the pharmacy wholesale system; (2) food supplements, medical devices and health cosmetics, which can be sold through all channels with considerably lower regulatory barriers; and (3) private-label manufacturing for drugstores, discounters, online pharmacies, pharmacy co-operations and D2C brands. Chapter 9 contains a directory of relevant German importers, wholesalers, retailers and distribution partners, structured by channel.