Japanese pharmaceuticals market should grow at 3.2% over next five years, to $99 billion in 2014, says BMI

Given that Japan's pharmaceutical market was valued at 9,519 billion yen ($101.7 billion) in 2009, Business Monitor International forecasts that expenditure on drugs should grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% over the next five years, reaching 11,163 billion yen ($99.2 billion) in 2014.

BMI’s long range forecast estimates that Japan's drug expenditure should be 11,427 billion yen in 2019, equating to a CAGR of 1.8% over the 10-year forecast period. A sustained weakening of the yen over the period means that drug market growth measured in US dollars is expected to be negative.

In BMI’s pharmaceutical Business Environment Ratings for fourth-quarter 2010, Japan receives a score of 68.8, placing it second of the 17 countries surveyed in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan remains a prime market for research-based drugmakers. Combined sales of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are forecast to increase from 9,519 billion yen in 2009 to 9,932 billion yen in 2010. This makes the market the second largest globally, behind the USA.