Swedish Pharmaceutical Trade In 1994

Total sales of pharmaceuticals on the Swedish market, at pharmacy purchase prices, rose 15.6% in 1994 compared with 1993, when the increase was 12.6%, according to figures published by LIF, the Swedish association of the pharmaceutical industry.

The Consumer Price Index increased 2.6% during 1994 compared with a rise of 4.1% in 1993, the association adds, noting that the price index for pharmaceuticals at pharmacy purchase prices increased 3.19% in 1994, compared to 1.41% in 1993. The drug price index, at pharmacy selling prices, increased just 0.94% in 1994, largely as a result of the decision by the Apoteksbolaget, the government-controlled National Corporation of Swedish Pharmacies, to reduce its mark-ups on prescriptions by 2.5% on average from the beginning of 1994.

Sweden's National Social Insurance Board reports that the number of pharmaceutical items prescribed rose 6% during the first 10 months of 1994 compared with the like, year-earlier period, and that the average cost per item increased 8%. The Board also notes that during the second quarter of 1994, the number of reference-priced packs sold declined 34.3% compared with the second quarter of 1993, while sales of non-reference-priced packs increased 10.8%. By value, the reference-priced market was down 7.4% in the quarter and the non-reference-priced market was up 16.5%.