Pharmaceutical sales in Romania continued to show strong growth in 2009

In its Business Environment Rating matrix for first-quarter 2010, Business Monitor International said Romania moved down one place to occupy fifth position out of the 15 regional markets surveyed among the emerging economies of Europe. Despite its marginal drop in the table, Romania's current position reflects the robust nature of it pharmaceutical industry and the strong growth it has seen in recent months.

'We therefore envisage that sales of pharmaceutical products will increase over the next 10 years, with sales of prescription drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines expected to grow from $3.31bn in 2008 to $8.24bn by 2019, representing local currency compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 10.10% and 7.34% for 2009-14 and 2014-19, respectively, said BMI.

Latest figures suggest that pharmaceutical sales in Romania continued to show strong growth in 2009. Data released by market research firm IMS Health identified a 19.9% year-on-year rise in medicine sales in local currency terms, reaching 6.3 billion new leu ($2.2bn) for the third quarter of 2009, although growth in the sales of OTC medications experienced a strong dampening effect as a result of declining consumer incomes. Prescription medicines, however, continued to grow, seemingly unabated by economic pressures.