OBJECTIVES: To analyze the pattern of non-prescription medicine purchase by consumer from community pharmacies in Malaysia METHODS: A cross-sectional survey comprised a sample of 1799 community pharmacy consumers was conducted nation-wide. A pharmacy “exit survey” was developed and administered to pharmacy consumers of randomly selected community pharmacies in order to collect information on the purchased non-prescription medicine(s) including its costs. In this study, the non-prescription medicine definition was adopted from the Malaysian Poison Act 1952. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, chi-square and Spearman correlation test in SPSS v15. RESULTS: A total of 2175 non-prescription medicines were purchased by consumers interviewed in 2 weeks study period. The total cost estimated for all item purchased was RM41,000 (USD13,000). About 39.6% of the purchased items are listed under scheduled poison, 45.5% were unscheduled poison and 12.5% are those listed as traditional and complementary medicine. Medicine for alimentary tract and metabolism, musculo-skeletal system and respiratory system as categorized by Anatomical Therapeutic Coding were among the highest purchased medicine. Factors such as gender especially females, area of origin especially those from urban area, ethnicity especially chinese consumers and those earning high income level shows to have a significant influence in the spending for non-prescription medicine purchasing. This study also showed purchasing for non-prescription medicine significantly increased as aging. Consumers spent significantly more on non-controlled medicine such as vitamins and herbal preparations compared to other categories of medicines (χ2=185.07, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation on pattern of non-prescription medicine purchasing in Malaysia reveals that consumers in Malaysia are able to spend money for buying medicines to treat minor ailments and practice of self-medication. The socio-demographic factors that associated with non-prescription medicine purchase will serve as useful information for policy makers and also the pharmaceutical industry for future development in rational medicine use education among consumers in the country.