Sales value of non-prescription painkillers in Italy 2022, by category
Minor health issues
People take non-prescription analgesics to treat common health issues such as headache, muscle pain or dysmenorrhea. During a survey carried out in Italy in 2017, 40 percent of respondents declared to deal with small health problems quite often. In addition, 56.5 percent of interviewees stated to be in favor of self-medication in case of minor health problems.
Non-prescription drugs
Non-prescription drugs are products available for purchase without a doctor’s prescription. Painkillers accounted for almost 23 percent of the total sales value of non-prescription drugs in 2022, being second only to non-prescription medication for cold, cough and respiratory diseases, which represented roughly 33 percent of the total value.