Homeopathy continues its retreat in Germany

As recently as 2019, a quarter more homeopathic remedies were sold than today in Germany, reported the FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG [my translation]. The largest manufacturer is removing individual remedies from its range and most state medical associations have cancelled the corresponding training courses for doctors.

Demand for homeopathic remedies continued to fall in 2024: while a good 45 million packs were sold in 2023, the number fell to around 43 million in 2024. The number of remedies dispensed on prescription fell even more sharply by 14 per cent from just under one million to just over 830,000.

According to the official pharmacy retail price, the total turnover of homeopathic remedies in 2024 was 779 million Euros. In 2019, sales were still around 834 million Euros, with around 56 million packs sold, a quarter more than last year.

This development is reflected in the companies’ figures. According to the annual report of the Willmar Schwabe Group, which includes Deutsche Homöopathie-Union (DHU), one of the largest manufacturers, sales in 2023 were negative in the ‘tense homeopathy environment’, some individual products had become unprofitable ‘and are being withdrawn from marketing’.

Homeopathy is repeatedly criticised due to the absence of active ingredients in the highly diluted remedies. Most state medical associations have cancelled corresponding additional training courses in recent years, including the medical association in Baden-Württemberg in 2024.

Just over a year ago, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced plans to remove the possibility for health insurance companies to reimburse homeopathic and anthroposophic remedies as part of so-called statutory benefits. However, these plans have not yet been realized.

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A dismayed fan of homeopathy posted on ‘X’ [my translation]: “Homeopathy is on the retreat? Well, conventional medicine has successfully fought off the competition. They no longer want to share. They don’t care what happens to the patients.”

I don’t think this is quite true! What has happened is more simple and has little to do with competition. The evidence that homeopathy generates more good than harm is clearly not positive. Therefore – in the name of evidence, consumer protection, suffering patients and medical ethics – it is unavoidable that homeopathy is in decline. In fact, it seems surprising that it is still being reimbursed!