Mosquito repellents are likely to maintain a sustained demand in the Indian market, since mosquitoes are rampant in India, and people need these products in order to protect themselves from mosquito borne diseases.
- Definition / Scope
- Market Overview
- Market Risks
- Top Market Opportunities
- Market Drivers
- Market Restraints
- Industry Challenges
- Technology Trends
- Regulatory Trends
- Other Key Market Trends
- Market Size and Forecast
- Market Outlook
- Technology Roadmap
- Distribution Chain Analysis
- Competitive Landscape
- Competitive Factors
- Key Market Players
- Strategic Conclusion
- References
- Appendix
Definition / Scope
Mosquitoes represent one of the most significant threats to human and veterinary health throughout the world. A mosquito repellent can be either a substance put on skin, clothing or vaporizer, mats, etc. which discourages mosquitoes from landing or crawling on that surface.
Stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and in India; places with stagnant water are plenty. Poor sanitary facilities, street gutters, storm drains, leaky faucets and clogged rain gutters are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which are rampant in India .
Vector-borne diseases are a considerable burden in India. Malaria was estimated to account for approximately 17 million episodes of illness and 26,000 deaths in India in 2013. Use of protection against mosquito bites may result in prevention of these diseases in addition to reducing mosquito annoyance and itching. For malaria control, insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying are methods with proven efficacy, commonly used in elimination efforts .
Mosquito repellents are manufactured to keep mosquitoes away and work by masking the chemical cues that welcome mosquitoes to dine. They come in various forms such as coils, mats, liquid vaporizers, sprays, creams, lotions, etc.

Market Overview
The mosquito repellent market in India is witnessing a significant growth because Indians are becoming more health conscious. Awareness of diseases spread through mosquitoes is increasing due to a rise in the literacy rate. Some of the diseases spread by mosquitoes include malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever.
The mosquito repellent market in India is worth more than US $651 million, and it is dominated by four major players – Reckitt Benckiser, Jyothi Laboratories, Godrej Sara Lee, and S C Johnson. Other players in the industry include Balsara Hygiene, Bayer, and Tainwala Chemicals. The top three products in the mosquito repellent market are Mortein, Maxo and Good Knight.
Studies show that the demand for mats is increasing in rural areas whereas in urban areas, there is a huge demand for vaporisers. In fact, vaporisers seem to be replacing mats and coils in urban areas.
There is ample scope for the growth of the mosquito repellent market in India because the distribution network for these products is low. There are 9 lakh outlets in India that sell mosquito repellents; however, only 55% of the stores display Reckitt Benckiser’s products whereas 54% of the stores display Godrej Sara Lee’s products. This shows that there is scope for greater distribution by these companies in the country.
However, although there is a need for mosquito repellents in India, there are concerns among the general public with regard to its hazards. There is an increase in the awareness among the public on the chemicals used in mosquito repellents. This is the reason why people are slowly shifting to other alternatives such as organic mosquito repellents. These are some of the ailments of the industry .

Market Risks
One major risk is that there are growing concerns among the general public with regard to the hazards of mosquito repellents. An increase in the awareness among the public on the chemicals used in mosquito repellents has led to a gradual decrease in interest in some of the mosquito repellent products, especially the non- herbal or non-organic ones.
Allethrin is dangerous, harmful to the eyes, skin, respiratory tract, and the nervous system. Prolonged exposure to mosquito repellents may result in brain, liver and kidney damage, according to the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre.
This is the reason why people are slowly shifting to other alternatives such as organic mosquito repellents. In addition, studies have shown that 100% protection from mosquitoes is not possible. These are some major market risks of the industry .
Top Market Opportunities
One major opportunity that companies can tap into is that it is extremely difficult to get rid of mosquitoes in India, and Indians are bound to resort to mosquitoes repellents, including coils, mats, vaporisers, aerosols, and creams.
Also, in the recent years the demand for mosquito repellents has been amplified due to rising incidences of mosquito borne diseases, such as zika virus, malaria, dengue, west nile fever and others. Various countries of Europe, Asia and North America witnessed outburst of various diseases such as Malaria, Zika Dengue chikungunya.
This recent outbreak of zika virus caused by bite of Aedes mosquito, spread across Caribbean regions of North America and South Africa. This impact of mosquito borne diseases is expected to increase in upcoming years, and this is something that can be taken as a good opportunity to both spread awareness about the disease and also market their products.
Also, rise in the demand of herbal repellents can also be taken as an opportunity to promote those repellents which are organic based. Although the same thing can be a challenge for non organic repellents, it can be taken as a good opportunity to promote herbal and organic based products.
Presently, people in the developed regions have started to use sprays, creams & oils based on neem, citronella oil, birch tree bark and other plant based ingredients. This changed predilection towards herb based mosquito repellent is expected to bring the growth of the market in coming years .
Market Drivers
The major trends that are driving growth in the market are rising mosquito borne diseases, increasing awareness, rise in global temperature leading to growing number of mosquitoes, marketing and positioning strategies and health hazards, which have been briefly explained below.
Rising mosquito borne diseases : Rising incidences of mosquito borne diseases, such as zika virus, malaria, dengue, west nile fever and others have led to a growth in the market. Various countries of Europe, Asia and North America witnessed outburst of various diseases such as Malaria, Zika Dengue chikungunya. The recent outbreak of zika virus caused by bite of Aedes mosquito, spread across Caribbean regions of North America and South Africa
Increasing awareness : Participation of various key market players along with NGOs and local governments have ensured improvement in the level of awareness amongst people residing in urban and rural areas against various mosquito borne diseases. The impact of rising awareness is sure to foster the demand of world mosquito repellent market.
Rise in global temperature : During the past few years, the global temperature of the earth has continued to rise. This kind of temperature provides optimum conditions to the mosquitoes to breed and makes them more active. It also provides damp and wet climate in certain regions favouring their multiplication. This would directly create an increased demand of mosquito repellents.
Marketing and positioning strategies: Effective marketing strategies aimed towards promoting sales of various mosquito repellents include spreading awareness amongst the people through various awareness campaigns and free sample distribution.
A few companies such as Godrej targeted mothers to promote their sales of ‘Good Knight’ brand through advertising. This also included promoting awareness along with an apprehension that their children might get infected with mosquito borne disease. An increased sales of various products in order to prevent from mosquito bites has thus increased .
Products that reduce health vulnerabilities: Products such as wristbands, patches and stickers which do not cause harmful effects over the health and these are being currently promoted to reduce the health vulnerabilities associated with mosquito repellents.
Moreover, creams, sprays and oils produced are inclining towards raw material based on plants. Thus, this is leading towards lesser health vulnerabilities. Thus, this new sensitivity towards health hazards could be another growth driver.
Market Restraints
There are concerns among the general public with regard to its hazards. There is an increase in the awareness among the public on the chemicals used in mosquito repellents .
It is observed that in 2017, in terms of revenue, mosquito liquid has accounted the highest share as they do not result any type of smoke and is not injurious to the health of people. Moreover, the mosquito coils and cards are sold majorly in urban areas in comparison to the rural sector as the urban population is more aware of such type of products and are more conscious related to health.
Moreover, the usage of untreated mosquito net and long lasting insecticide net is done in the several states for securing themselves from malaria whereas, in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the usage of single and double bed mosquito nets are done on a large scale because of the shortage in power supply and residents of this regions are not able to use mosquito liquid.
LLIN is a mosquito net which is impregnated with the insecticides and in 2017 on the large the supply of this net is done in the different states of India . In addition, studies have shown that no mosquito repellent provides 100% protection against mosquitoes.
Industry Challenges
Most of the synthetic mosquito repellents that contain harmful chemicals like allethrin, diethyltoluamide and dimethyl phthalate no longer work against mosquitoes. Moreover, they are harmful to human beings and environment too .
Allergic reaction and skin irritation are some of the most common side-effects of improper usage of repellants. Allethrin is dangerous, harmful to the eyes, skin, respiratory tract, and the nervous system. In fact, according to the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, prolonged exposure to mosquito repellents may result in brain, liver and kidney damage. Allergic reaction is common in people who apply the repellant on cuts or wounds .
Technology Trends
Repellent technologies are important tools in the arsenal for preventing the spread of mosquito-borne disease. The practice of latest technology in manufacturing of mosquito repllent product is quite high in India. Numerous products containing DEET are used and considered to be highly efficacious as contact repellents and provide repellency to a wide range of hematophagous insects.
These products provide repellency for one to eight hours (depending on concentration) after their application. Although these persistence times are considered long-lasting with respect to other products that are currently on the market, there is still significant room for improvement in repellent technologies.
However, due to the potential of resistance to various old and currently utilized repellent technologies, new chemistries and strategies must be developed and employed .
Regulatory Trends
The government of India is playing efficient role in developing the nation’s framework at any instance. Moreover, in the healthcare industry it makes so many innovations for minimizing the negative effective of disease. Furthermore, malaria is the main public health problem in the numerous states of India which majorly includes North East segment.
The government of India is projecting so many programs and projects which are very much useful for the general public as in these programs government spread awareness related to the malaria and other related viruses.
According to the report analysis, ‘Structural Changes For Malaria Control In India By 2027’ states that the demand of mosquito repellents will be operate by growing consumer awareness, spread of other vector borne diseases and urbanization. In earlier time, the consumers in India have used mosquito coils which are reasonable than the electric insecticides and broadly available in the market.
Meanwhile, by the time the consumers have become aware related to fact that the smoke from coil is injurious to health and sometimes create dangerous diseases related to the lungs moreover, with this the fact the producers are introducing the electric insecticides more reasonable which is also helping to fuel the demand and make the
market more effective and profitable .
Other Key Market Trends
Mosquito repellent market vendors today are focusing on high-quality packaging that provides utmost safety to consumers so that the chemicals used in the repellents like vaporizers and aerosols do not come in direct contact with skin.
Innovations in packaging are driving the growth of the global mosquito repellents market. With more people taking preventive measures against mosquito-borne diseases, vendors in the market have been launching new products and investing in marketing initiatives to promote the use of mosquito repellents .
Market Size and Forecast
The market in India for insect repellents is significantly large, due to the all pervading breeding of mosquitoes and the serious diseases that mosquitoes inflict on the people. Mosquito Repellent market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 4.79% from USD 651 million in 2017 to USD 775 million in 2020 .
BisReport analysts believe that in the next few years, Mosquito Repellent market size will be further expanded, the market size of the Mosquito Repellent will reach USD 1 billion by 2025.
The market is expected to witness growth on account of rising disposable incomes coupled with growing awareness among consumers and easy availability of mosquito repellents on the back of robust distribution network. Moreover, rise in literacy rates is also expected to drive the demand for mosquito repellents over the next five years.
The urban share of mosquito repellents is 70%, which shows that with increasing affluence among the urban population, more and more people are purchasing mosquito repellents as a precautionary measure against diseases spread by mosquitoes .

Market Outlook
The mosquito repellent market in India is projected to reach US $800 million by 2021. This can be credited to growing awareness about mosquito repellents, surge in mosquito borne diseases and favourable government initiatives.
In 2015, coils accounted for the largest share in the country’s mosquito repellent market, followed by vaporizers, mats, sprays and creams, which is expected to maintain its market dominance through 2021. However, the segmental share is expected to decline on account of robustly growing demand for vaporizers and sprays.
Coils dominated the market as they don’t require electricity like other repellents, and being gaseous in nature, tend to be effective over a larger area. This segment is expected to remain strong during the forecast period. However, the product does face tough competition from Vaporizers and new herbal products introduced in the market, like fabric Roll On, which are considered less harmful .
India Mosquito Repellent Market has been growing with a CAGR of 4.79% from last five years and is projected to reach new heights by the year 2021 due to rising incidence of vector borne disease in India, growing awareness regarding prevention of mosquitoes, brand awareness, increasing disposable income, growing demand in middle class people and affordable price of mosquito repellent products.
The various forms of mosquito repellents such as coils, mats, liquid vaporizers, sprays, creams, lotions, etc are driving the segmental market of mosquito repellent market in India . This is the reason why people are slowly shifting to other alternatives such as organic mosquito repellents .

Technology Roadmap
Botanical repellent technologies have been a promising area of research for many years. Their efficacy and safety to mammals makes them ideal alternatives to synthetic insecticide and repellent technologies.
The evolutionary arms-race between plants and herbivorous insects has produced numerous plant compounds that are toxic, repellent, and modulatory to the behavior of insects.
Many secondary plant compounds are also considered important due to their low residual character in the environment. Their lack of persistence on treated surfaces, soil, or on human skin makes many of them ideal, safe alternatives to the currently utilized chemistries that are not readily labile in the environment.
Current and future technologies directed toward the development of long-lasting botanical or biorational repellents could lead to promising alternatives to repellent formulations that are currently on the market .
Distribution Chain Analysis
In 2017, convenience stores, hypermarkets, and supermarkets were the most popular retail formats for mosquito repellents and accounted for the largest market portion.
The mosquito repellent market has been segmented on the basis of product type, distribution channel, and geography. On the basis of product type, the market is categorized into spray, coil, cream & oil, mat, vaporizer and other products.
The coil segment dominates the global market in terms of revenue owing to their extensive use by the middle and lower income groups across various developing and rural regions of the world.
Cream & oil is emerging as the largest segment due to their increasing availability with herbal ingredients. According to the channels of distribution, the market is classified into large retail stores, small retail stores, specialty stores and online distribution channel.
Large retail stores dominates the market, while online distribution channel is expected to witness lucrative growth over the forecast period due to increasing internet penetration in developing regions .
Competitive Landscape
Home insecticides is dominated by Godrej Consumer Products due to the popularity of its Good Knight and Hit brands. Indeed, Hit has even become synonymous with spray/aerosol insecticides among Indian consumers .
Mosquito repellent market can be broadly categorized into Coils, Vaporizers, Mats, Sprays, Creams and other mosquito repellents. Coils dominated the market in 2015 as they don’t require electricity like other repellents, and tend to be effective over a larger area.
Thus, this segment is expected to remain strong during the forecast period. However, the product does face tough competition from Vaporizers and new herbal products introduced in the market, like fabric Roll On, which are considered less harmful .
Western region dominated the market with a share of 30%, in value terms, in 2015 and is anticipated to remain dominant through 2022. The region is expected to retain its market share due to high levels of literacy and awareness among consumers, coupled with presence of a robust and synchronized retail network that ensures easy availability of a wide variety of mosquito repellents.
Increasing consumer awareness, growing number of government initiatives, rise in consumer spending on health expenditure coupled with increase in rising demand for consumer friendly, non-toxic products like mosquito repelling clothes and perfumes are expected to continue boosting demand for mosquito repellents in India over the next five years .
Competitive Factors
At present, the main factor which has become a competition in the market is related with the degree of health hazards associated with the particular product.
More and more companies are producing herbal based products to reduce such health risks associated with the repellent. People are getting attracted to organic based repellents, and this has become one major competitive factor in the market.
The key market players have consistently engaged themselves into implementing effective marketing strategies aimed towards promoting sales of various mosquito repellents. Companies have regularly involved into spreading awareness amongst the people through various awareness campaigns and free sample distribution.
New product developments and innovation are also key for manufacturers, which are trying to raise awareness and generate interest in home insecticides. Companies are also targeting rural households as home insecticides are gradually becoming more popular .
Key Market Players
The mosquito repellent market in India is worth more than US$ 650 million, and it is dominated by four major players – Reckitt Benckiser, Jyothi Laboratories, Godrej Sara Lee, and S C Johnson. Other players in the industry include Balsara Hygiene, Bayer, and Tainwala Chemicals. The top three products in the mosquito repellent market are Mortein, Maxo and Good Knight.
At present, Godrej Sara Lee’s Good Knight is the leader in mats, with a 51% market share. Next, Reckitt Benckiser’s Mortein has a market share of 15%, followed by Godrej Sara Lee’s Jet at 14%.
In the segment of coils, Reckitt Benckiser’s Mortein is the leading brand, with 33% market share, followed by Godrej Sara Lee’s Jet and Good Knight at 17% and 12% respectively.
In the vaporiser segment, S C Johnson’s All Out is the leading brand, with around 69% market share, followed by Godrej Sara Lee’s Good Knight at 21% market share.
Reckitt Benckise : It is a producer of health, hygiene and home products. The CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, India is Rakesh Kapoor. The executive team is responsible for strategic investment, corporate social responsibility, risk management and financial performance. They have operations in over 60 countries worldwide and their products are trusted in most markets across the globe .
Jyothy Laboratories Ltd : It is a Mumbai-based fast-moving consumer goods company founded in 1983. In 2009–10 the company reported a turnover of US$81 million and profit of US$11 million. The company has 21 manufacturing units at 14 locations across India. The company originated in Kandanassery, near Guruvayur in Thrissur district of Kerala State by M. P. Ramachandran .
Godrej Sara Lee Ltd : Godrej Sara Lee is one of the leading manufacturers of home insecticides. Godrej Sara Lee Ltd is a joint venture company between Sara Lee Corporation, USA and the legendary Indian business conglomerate – the Godrej Group. The main business of this joint venture company involves manufacture of international quality domestic insect repellants.
Godrej Sara Lee is the largest manufacturer of domestic insecticides in the world. In India, it is the undisputed market leader and operates through a wide network of dealers, stockists and retailers spread across India. The company is well equipped with a dedicated Research & Development center, which works aggressively towards product development .

Strategic Conclusion
Thus, the mosquito repellent market is likely to grow in the upcoming future. With the rise in both mosquitoes and mosquito borne diseases and an increased health concern of the Indian population, the demand is also likely to increase.
However, there are some health hazards associated with certain mosquito repellent products. Thus, more aware people are shifting towards herbal based products.
The most effective marketing strategies include making the general public aware about mosquito borne diseases and using that very awareness to market their repellents by providing free samples initially.
Experts predict that the mosquito repellent industry in India will continue to flourish in the years to come, and with greater affluence and awareness among the public, we may witness a decline in the usage of mats and coils and an increase in the usage of vaporisers.
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Appendix
- CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate
- DEET: N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide
- ITNs: Insecticide-treated Nets
- US$: US Dollar