German drug prices falling since 2007

The prices of pharmaceutical products in Germany have fallen by an average of 2.7% from January 2007 to the present day, according to the  research-based drugmakers' group, the VFA. It also claims that its own  members contributed to this by raising the cost by 0.7%, noting that the  background inflation rate for general consumer prices has been in the  2%-4% range.

Cornelia Yzer, the VFA's managing director, said: "thanks to lower drugs  prices the health insurers saved in 2008 approximately 300.0 million  euros ($409.1 million) in expenditure." She explained that the rising  cost of health care is caused by the greater number of people receiving  treatments, partly due to demographic trends but also as a result of  increased prescribing for chronic illnesses, which are in any case  becoming more prevalent.