Pharmaceutical market

The interactive visualisations on this page allow you to compare data across 37 OECD member countries for the following pharmaceutical market indicators:

  • pharmaceutical consumption
  • pharmaceutical sales.

Key findings

In 2019 (or based on the latest year of data):

  • Total pharmaceutical sales per capita ($US purchasing power parity) were highest in Greece, at $US1085. Australia’s pharmaceutical sales were equivalent to $US411 per capita, lower than the OECD average ($US531 per capita).
  • In Australia, the most money spent per capita, by class of pharmaceutical (other than products not elsewhere classified) was on pharmaceutical class N - Nervous system, at $US55 per capita (adjusted for purchasing power parity). This class includes pharmaceuticals such as antidepressants, analgesics, and hypnotics and sedatives. Australia spent lower than the OECD average on nervous system pharmaceuticals (US$69 per capita at purchasing power parity)
  • In terms of pharmaceutical consumption, in Australia the defined daily dosage per 1,000 inhabitants per day was highest for cardiovascular system pharmaceuticals (371 doses). Cardiovascular system pharmaceuticals also had the highest defined daily dosage on average across the OECD, though the OECD average daily dosage per 1,000 inhabitants was higher, at 458 doses.

 

This figure compares pharmaceutical sales for OECD countries for 2019 or nearest year by pharmaceutical class. In Australia, Products not elsewhere classified made up the largest proportion of pharmaceutical sales (3606.1 millions $US, purchasing power parity). Pharmaceuticals belonging to the class N-Nervous system made up the second largest proportion of pharmaceutical sales.

This figure compares pharmaceutical consumption for OECD countries for 2019 or nearest year by pharmaceutical class. In Australia, the pharmaceutical class C-Cardiovascular system made up the largest proportion of pharmaceutical consumption measured by defined daily dosage per 1,000 inhabitants per day, followed by N-Nervous system pharmaceuticals.