Herbal products play a very significant role in medical care as a whole, and thus also in complementary and alternative medicine. The importance of these products can be captures by various measuring instruments. E.g. in Germany, several surveys have demonstrated sufficiently reliable results on the application of herbal medicinal by the population. They show e.g. that 63 % of the population show a life time prevalence of the use of naturopathic therapies. A nationwide survey dealing with the practice of prescription shows the significantly higher popularity of phytotherapy in primary care (88 %) than in specialized medical practice (54 %).
Also marketing data can be used to describe trends reliably. Figures from China show that 70-80 % of the population use TCM products, and that annual growth rates in this segment are 10-25 %. The underlying global trend supports the call for globally accepted standards for quality, safety and efficacy of herbal products.