World OTC Pharma Sales In 1996

Sales of over-the-counter medicines worldwide accounted for 17% of totaldrug sales in 1996, at $48.6 billion. North America was the leading market, with just over 30% of total OTC sales, followed by Europe on 28%, the Pacific Rim with 16% and Latin America and the Far East/China with 10% each.

This data appears in the 1997 edition of OTCreview from IMS International. It says that OTC sales in North America grew just over 4% last year. This advance, it says, was largely as a result of the rapid expansion of the Canadian market, which grew to account for 9% of the North American market as a whole last year.

OTC sales fell just over 5% in the Pacific Rim area, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Japan, according to IMS. The report points to the health care cost containment measures being introduced by the governments of all these countries, and that Australia and New Zealand have introduced reference price systems, while New Zealand is also actively encouraging generic substitution. OTC sales in the Far East/China region rose 9%, driven by strong economic growth.