Austrian Pharma Market Growth

In 1997-2001, Austria's pharmaceutical market will have a compoundannual growth rate of 5.9% in local currency or 8.9% in US dollars, from 17.3 billion schillings ($141.7 million) in 1996, says IMS Pharma Strategy Group.

This is slower than in the last five years but faster than western European markets such as France, with a forecast CAGR of 5.5% in the period, Germany at 3.8%, Italy on 5.4% and the UK on 5.7%. Within Central Europe, a CAGR of 12.7% is projected for Poland, 10.3% for the Czech Republic, 8.7% for Hungary and 5.5% for the Slovak Republic.

Austria's health care expenditure is nearly 10% of its Gross Domestic Product, higher than in other European countries. Its drugs market is low-price and high-volume, meaning that generics represented only 6.7% of retail sales in 1996. However, generics are forecast to grow at a rate of 8.7% compared to 6.3% per annum for the total market in local currency terms, raising generics' share of the market to 7.5% by 2001, says the study.