China's Health Supplements Market Hits CN¥ 115B Online
By Jotham Lim
5 min read
Newer data: China Online Health & Wellness Sales Rose 9.5% in H1 2026
Executive Summary#
China's online health supplements market reached CN¥ 115.45 billion in combined sales across three leading Chinese marketplaces in 2023, growing 24.6% year-on-year (YoY), and sales on a leading content-led marketplace more than doubled over the year, growing 100.4%. The market as a whole remains underpenetrated compared with developed economies, since China's per capita supplement spending of US$ 38 is roughly a fifth of the US$ 194 spent in the United States. We believe this gap, together with rising health consciousness and an ageing population, positions the market for sustained double-digit growth.
Market Size and Growth: A CN¥ 328B Opportunity#
China's total health supplement market is projected to reach CN¥ 328.3 billion by the end of 2023, having grown at a 12.4% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from CN¥ 144.6 billion in 2016. The market has more than doubled in absolute terms over seven years, as health consciousness has deepened, disposable incomes have risen and e-commerce has opened new channels to consumers.
The global comparison shows how much room the market still has. At US$ 38 per capita a year, China's health supplement spending trails Australia (US$ 205) by more than five-fold, the United States (US$ 194) by roughly five-fold, Japan (US$ 138) by over three-fold and Canada (US$ 110) by nearly three-fold. Western Europe's US$ 56 serves as a useful mid-point benchmark, and we believe China could reach similar per capita levels within five to seven years as income growth and health education continue to advance.
Penetration rates point the same way, with China trailing the United States by 20 to 50 percentage points across all age groups. The widest proportional gap appears in the 35-44 age cohort, where penetration is 11% in China against 51% in the US, which makes it the highest-potential target group for expansion given its peak earning power and growing health awareness. We estimate that closing this gap represents an incremental opportunity of CN¥ 200-400 billion as Chinese consumer spending patterns move closer to those of developed markets.
Online Sales in 2023: Growth Led by Volume#
Total online sales across the three marketplaces reached CN¥ 115.45 billion in 2023 (+24.6% YoY), with sales volume reaching 610 million units (+28.4% YoY). The average selling price fell 3.0% to CN¥ 194.2 per unit, which suggests that volume growth and the arrival of new consumers in the category are outpacing any move towards premium products. Content-led commerce grew strongly over the year, with sales on a leading content-led marketplace growing 100.4%, and we believe this makes distribution across several channels essential for brands in the category.
Brand Landscape: International Brands Hold Most of the Market as Domestic Brands Gain#
International brands from the United States, Australia, Japan and Germany together hold nearly 70% of the market in a leading marketplace ecosystem. US-origin brands accounted for 32.0% of that market in 2023, against 35.5% in 2022, while mainland Chinese brands grew from 31.0% to 32.2%, so the gap between the two has closed to less than one percentage point.
Breadth across several key functional categories, in place of specialisation in one, is a common strategy among established brands. Swisse has built a portfolio spanning vitamins, herbal supplements and mineral products, while By-Health (汤臣倍健), a domestic dietary supplement brand, has invested in research and development and in regulatory certifications.
The market is becoming more fragmented, as the combined share of the largest brands eased between 2022 and 2023 while new entrants arrived. The number of active brands in a leading marketplace ecosystem grew from approximately 7,000 in 2020 to roughly 12,000 by late 2023, an increase of 73%. That gives consumers more choice, puts margin pressure on established brands and opens entry opportunities for focused challengers.
Functional Sub-Segments: Where Growth Is Concentrated#
Cardiovascular health and bone health are the segments where scale and growth meet, since both combine billion-scale revenue with strong double-digit growth, and together they have taken over from oral beauty as the main source of the category's growth. For a challenger that lacks the breadth of a multi-category portfolio, we believe the stronger approach is to build a defensible position in a single underserved functional niche, which the market's fragmentation in 2023 made possible.
Key Takeaways#
- Structural growth: China's health supplement market is projected at CN¥ 328.3 billion, and with per capita spending at US$ 38 against US$ 194 in the US, we expect several more years of growth as spending converges.
- Content-led commerce is a major source of growth: sales on a leading content-led marketplace grew 100.4% in 2023, as content commerce has changed how consumers discover and buy supplements, which makes distribution across several channels essential.
- Domestic brands are closing the gap: mainland Chinese brands grew to 32.2% of the market in a leading marketplace ecosystem, nearly matching US-origin brands at 32.0%, as domestic brands invest in research and development and in regulatory certifications.
- Cardiovascular and bone health are the segments to watch: these two segments combine billion-scale revenue with strong double-digit growth and have taken over from oral beauty as the main source of the category's growth.
- Fragmentation creates entry windows: with concentration among the largest brands easing and more than 12,000 active brands, focused challengers can establish positions in underserved functional niches.
About the Data#
This analysis is based on Moojing Market Intelligence data covering three leading Chinese e-commerce marketplaces for the period Q2 2024. Total market projections incorporate third-party data from Euromonitor and iiMedia Data Center.
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Frequently Asked Questions
CN¥ 115.45 billion in 2023 across three leading Chinese marketplaces, growing 24.6% year on year on 610 million units (+28.4%). Average selling price fell 3.0% to CN¥ 194.2, which says the growth is coming from new consumers entering the category rather than from existing ones trading up. The total market including offline is projected at CN¥ 328.3 billion by the end of 2023, having compounded at 12.4% a year from CN¥ 144.6 billion in 2016, more than doubling in absolute terms over seven years.
Substantially, and the gap is the investment case. China's per capita supplement spending is US$ 38, against Australia at US$ 205, the United States at US$ 194, Japan at US$ 138 and Canada at US$ 110. Western Europe's US$ 56 is the more useful benchmark, and it is reachable within five to seven years on current income and health-education trends. Penetration tells the same story: China trails the United States by 20 to 50 percentage points across age groups, with the widest proportional gap in the 35-44 cohort, at 11% against 51%. That cohort pairs peak earning power with rising health awareness, which makes it the highest-potential target.
Fragmenting, clearly. The combined share of the largest brands eased between 2022 and 2023, while the number of active brands in a leading marketplace ecosystem grew from roughly 7,000 in 2020 to about 12,000 by late 2023, an increase of 73%. That combination puts margin pressure on incumbents and opens entry windows for focused challengers, particularly in functional niches a broad-line portfolio serves only generically. Origin share is converging too: US-origin brands moved from 35.5% in 2022 to 32.0%, while mainland Chinese brands went from 31.0% to 32.2%, closing the gap to under a percentage point.
Cardiovascular health and bone health are where scale and growth meet, since both combine billion-scale revenue with strong double-digit growth, and together they have displaced oral beauty as the category's centre of gravity. The strategic reading is that established brands in the category tend to build presence across several key functional categories in place of specialising in one. For a challenger without that breadth the opposite approach applies, which is to own a single underserved functional niche completely. The fragmenting share structure of 2023 made a defensible narrow position available in a way it was not a few years earlier.
