Austrian pharmaceutical market set to grow at 7.5% pa

The Austrian pharmaceutical market is estimated to be worth around $6.0 billion in 2009, equal to $716 per capita. This is expected to grow by 7.5% annually to reach $8.6 billion, or $1,011 per capita, in 2014, according to a new report from Research and Markets.

Austria has a stable, mature economy but will, nevertheless, be affected by the global economic downturn. Real Gross Domestic Product growth is expected to fall to -4.3% in 2009, according to figures from the Economist Intelligence Unit, rising to 0.9% in 2011 and 2.3% in 2014. The population of Austria is estimated to be 8.4 million in 2009 with 18.0% of the population aged 65 and over. Vienna is the most populated region of Austria accounting for 20.1% of the population.

Health care expenditure has continued its steady growth in recent years, increasing by 4.4% to reach 27.5 billion euros ($31.6 billion) in 2007, with private expenditure accounting for around 22.6% of the total. Of this, 1.8 billion euros was spent on pharmaceutical products and medical durables and non-durables.

Cardiovascular drugs are market leaders both in terms of value and volume. In 2008, cardiovascular drugs had a 20.3% market share in terms of value and 30.6% by volume. The share of generics in the pharmaceutical market is low, but it is rising. In 2007, generics accounted for 14.5% of the market in terms of value and 25.0% in terms of volume.

The main challenge facing the Austrian pharmaceutical system is rising costs. The primary reason for this is an aging population and the uptake of new, more expensive pharmaceuticals, the report notes.