On average, each Vietnamese spent over 56 USD on medicines, equivalent to nearly 1.3 million VND in 2017.
That is the result based on the recently released report of the Vietnam Assessment Report Joint Stock Company. Specifically, the revenue of Vietnam's pharmaceutical market in 2017 is estimated at US $ 5.2 billion, up about 10% over the previous year.
Also according to this report, per capita spending on drugs in Vietnam has increased gradually from US $ 9.85 in 2005 to US $ 22.25 in 2010 and nearly doubled in 2015 to 37.97. USD.
Vietnam's pharmaceutical market is on a positive growth momentum. It is forecasted that by 2020, spending on drugs per capita in Vietnam will double to USD 85 and USD 163 by 2025.
Many Vietnamese people choose imported drugs instead of domestic drugs with equivalent drugs.
Vietnam Report predicts that the pharmaceutical industry's context in 2018 will change drastically with the participation of big players in the retail market.
At the same time, the massive entry of foreign pharmaceutical corporations into manufacturing in Vietnam is creating considerable pressure on domestic pharmaceutical enterprises.
More than 90% of enterprises participating in the survey of Vietnam Report stated that: "Bidding process for hospital drugs - ETC channel" and the issue of "Dependence on the main source of raw materials imported from abroad" are barriers. The biggest obstacle to the current pharmaceutical industry.
The reason that Vietnam's drug price is about 20-25% higher than China and India is that the raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry have to import mainly from foreign countries.
In addition, feedback from pharmacies and pharmacists in the Vietnam Report survey showed that Vietnamese still prefer imported drugs over domestic drugs with equivalent drugs.
