Portugal's pharmaceuticals will see modest CAGR of 2.6%, study shows

Portugal's pharmaceutical market in 2008 was valued at 3.61 billion euros ($5.31 billion) and should grow to 4.2 billion euros (US$5.3bn) in 2014 representing a CAGR of 2.63% in local currency terms, according to a new study added to Research and Markets offering.

This report notes that, as a result of the weakening euro, drug market expenditure in US dollar terms will experience much slower growth, with a CAGR of just 0.21% expected between 2009 and 2014.

The authors also calculate that pharmaceutical sales in Portugal will have slowed to 3.7 billion in 2009, equating to a decline of 1.60% in drug expenditure. Despite Portugal's economy pulling out of recession in the second quarter of 2009, as reported by a Country Risk team, the authors believe that the recovery there will be slow and drawn out, which could impact both out-of-pocket expenditure and state investment in health care. The over-the-counter medicines sector will be most sensitive to a prolonged slump in consumer spending power, although it is also most likely to benefit most when the economy does return to strength. As a result, their near-term forecasts for the OTC sector envisage a CAGR of 2.46% between 2009 and 2014 in US dollar terms. However, between 2009 and 2014 they expect growth to reach 3.76%.