Over the year, the weighted average cost of a pack of domestic drugs increased by 23.8% to 115 rubles, according to DSM Group data, which Izvestia got acquainted with. The price of imported drugs rose by 7.5% – up to 381 rubles per pack, analysts noted.
Against this background, the revenue of pharmacies increased significantly. In the first half of the year, they sold 557.9 billion rubles of drugs. This is 13.9% more than in the same period a year ago. In physical terms, the sales of medicines in January-June are estimated at 2.6 billion units. This is only 3.1% more than in the first half of 2019. Such a difference in the growth of indicators can be provided by an increase in drug prices or a shift in demand towards larger packages.
“Here we see the consequences of the depreciation of the ruble and the impact of the pandemic, an increase in demand for protection and prevention products. But there are other reasons as well. This is a factor in the panic that has arisen among consumers, rush demand and purchases for future use, ”explained to Izvestia a professor at the base department of trade policy of the PRUE. Plekhanov Vyacheslav Cheglov.
The peak of sales in pharmacies over the past part of the year was in March. Then the Russians bought drugs for a record 127.2 billion rubles.
Details in the material “Izvestia”:
Valuable collection: revenue of pharmacies in the first half of the year increased by 14%