Venezuela's pharmaceuticals market remains third from bottom in Americas

Venezuela remains third from the bottom, above Nicaragua and Honduras, with a pharmaceutical rating of 34.0 in Business Monitor International’s third-quarter 2010 Pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings (BER) for the Americas. Globally, this equates to a shared 76th place with Pakistan, which reinforces BMI’s view that Venezuela remains one of the most challenging pharmaceutical markets in the world.

In a previous report, BMI estimated that pharmaceutical sales in Venezuela had reached 7.47 billion bolivar ($1.74 billion) in 2009, a decline on the previous year. By 2014, BMI forecasts the Venezuelan pharmaceutical market will be worth just under 28.94 billion bolivar, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31% in local currency terms.

Ongoing disruption at Puerto Cabello, Venezuela's largest port, is exacerbating domestic shortages of food and other consumer goods, contributing to the country's spiraling inflation levels. New nationalizations and diplomatic tension with Colombia are some of the other risks associated with South Americas largest oil exporter. Furthermore, in the run-up to September 2010's legislative elections, the government appears committed to pursuing distortive and populist policies, which could push the country along a similar trajectory as that of Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, BMI suggests.