Demand for Australian-made vitamins and health supplements is skyrocketing, according to new data by Roy Morgan Research.
In the 12 months to June 2015, 8.1 million Australians over the age of 14 (roughly 42 per cent of the population), bought vitamins, minerals, and/or supplements, a substantial increase on the 6.6 million consumers (36 per cent) who bought them in the year to June 2011.
Vitamins are especially popular with women, nearly half of whom (49 per cent) buy them in an average six months, compared with 34 per cent of men.
Women aged 35-49 (55 per cent) and 50-64 (53 per cent) are the most likely to purchase these products, while men aged under 25 (14 per cent) are far and away the least likely.
Some striking trends have also emerged in terms of where consumers are purchasing these products, including an increasing tendency to buy these items from a chemist, rising from 44 per cent of consumers in 2011, to 54 per cent in 2015.
In contrast, the proportion of vitamin buyers who make their purchase at a supermarket has fallen from 33 per cent to 28 per cent over the same period, a decline primarily due to fewer people purchasing these products at Woolworths.
Health food stores (nine per cent, down from 14 per cent) and discount stores (two per cent, down from three per cent) are also falling from favour among Australian vitamin buyers.
