6.2% Annual Growth For World Pharma Sales

Worldwide, the pharmaceutical market is forecast to grow at a compoundaverage growth rate of 6.2% a year, to reach $378 billion in 2001 from an estimated value of $297.3 billion in 1997, according to Global Pharma Forecasts 1997-2001 from IMS' Pharma Strategy Group. The report covers 230 countries in 11 regions.

Market growth was a modest 1.6% in 1996, compared with double-digit expansion the previous year, it notes. Major limiting factors in 1996 included low growth in Japan as well as in a number of European markets, and this was compounded by the strength of the US dollar against the yen and major European currencies.

Selected Region Forecasts Region CAGR % CAGR % 1992-96 1997-2001 -------------------------------------- North America 5.7% 6.5% Europe 3.9% 5.7% Japan 11.7% -0.7% Latin America/Carib 14.7% 10.6% SE Asia & China 10.4% 12.3%