The cold, flu and immunity market was the key topic of interest in 2020, clocking in at 72.3% growth. Though that growth was massive, it was not necessarily surprising given the ongoing health crisis. Perhaps the more interesting story is watching the trajectory of this category now that it is over $2 billion larger than it was pre-pandemic.

After that record year of growth, the condition actually saw a slight decline in 2021, dropping by 4.2%, and we project another year of declining growth in 2022. Research shows that consumers are not necessarily less interested in their health, but we see sales shifting to more support of general health, especially in the vitamin categories.

While that 4.2% decline adds up to nearly a quarter billion dollars, it’s important to focus on the sheer size of the current market. Cold, flu and immunity sales clocked in at $5.66 billion in 2021. In 2017 the market had not even reached $3 billion. Even with a normalization curve in the coming years, the market has been permanently affected by the pandemic.

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