Spain

Spain’s Self-Medication and Pharma market

Spain’s Self-Medication and Pharma market is amongst the strongest in Europe and has a lot of opportunities to offer that you may want to consider if you’re looking to expand your business in Europe. 

Spain occu­pies over 80% of the land on the Iber­ian Penin­sula with over 47.2 mil­lion peo­ple spread across approx­i­mately 505,000 km². Spain is the fourth most significant OTC and pharma market in the EU by volume of sales and job creation (behind Germany, France, and Italy) and the fifth in the EU in terms of production. In 2020, the consumer healthcare and pharma domestic sales revenues were around USD 19,6 billion, the third-largest domestic sales in the EU behind Germany and France. The OTC and pharma market should reach a value of USD 27,6 Billion ex-factory in 2035, according to CPC market experts.

In 2020, public hospital spending grew by 5.6% and sales of medicines at retail pharmacies increased 0.7%. 

The therapeutic groups with more potential growth are those of the central nervous system influenced by the increase in the consumption of analgesics, tranquilizers, and antidepressants. Also the antineoplastic group and the cardiovascular system group as a consequence of the increase in the consumption of lipid-modifying agents. The ones experiencing downturns in sales and anti-infectives, respiratory system, and musculoskeletal system.

The industry generates around 40,000 direct jobs in Spain, of which 59% of employees are professionals with bachelor’s studies and around 95,000 indirect jobs.

The Spanish OTC and pharma market invested €1.025 billion in research and development in 2019 which makes it, alongside the automotive industry, the leading industrial sector by volume of spending on research.