Global medicine spending to reach $1.6 trillion in 2025

Global spending on medicines - using invoice price levels - is expected to grow at a 3%-6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2025 to reach a value of about $1.6 trillion by 2025, excluding spending of COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new research report - The Global Spending and Usage of Medicines – which has been released today by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.

The total cumulative spending on COVID-19 vaccines through 2025 is projected to be $157 billion, largely focused on the initial wave of vaccinations to be completed by 2022. In subsequent years, booster shots are expected to be required on a biannual basis as the durability of immunity and the continued emergence of viral variants make an endemic virus the most likely outcome.

“While the pandemic has been extremely disruptive, the pre-pandemic forces of medicine use and spending remain significant drivers of the outlook, and these forces have only been modestly impacted by the immediate effects of COVID-19,” said Murray Aitken, IQVIA senior vice president and executive director of the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. “The success of countries around the world in implementing a global vaccination program - unprecedented in speed and scope - will be key to the outlook for all medicine use through 2025 and beyond,” he noted.