Vietnam

Vietnam: The growing OTC and Prescription Drugs market in South East Asia 

Vietnam’s OTC and Prescription Drugs market is one of the fastest-growing markets in South-East Asia and is expected to continue growing in the next few years. Discover all the opportunities this market has to offer in this article: 

Vietnam is one of the most promising OTC and pharma markets in Asia. This market in Vietnam is projected to be worth USD 25,8 billion ex-factory in 2035. Ris­ing drug con­sump­tion and gov­ern­ment invest­ment contribute to the country’s attrac­tive consumer healthcare and Rx mar­ket.

Vietnam’s current population is nearly 100 million people while its per capita income is 2,750 USD. The country is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Along with that, the population is aging while income is increasing and health issues are being paid more attention to. Therefore, spending on health products also increases. In 2005, per capita drug spending was $9.85, in 2010 it was $22.25 and in 2019 it was $75. The average growth rate in the period 2010-2019 is 14.8%.

In 2020, the revenue of the over-the-counter (OTC) drug market in Vietnam amounted to 1,4 billion U.S. dollars and should reach USD 6,76 billion in 2035. Meanwhile, prescription drugs had total revenue of USD 3.91 billion in 2020 and are expected to reach USD 19 billion in 2035.

In terms of mar­ket share, the largest Vietnamese drug com­pa­nies include Duoc Hau Giang, VIET NAM FUMIGATION JSC, and PYMEPHARCO. The biggest Health­care expen­di­ture in Vietnam is in the out-of-pocket seg­ment, with national health insur­ance only cov­er­ing a small sec­tion of the pop­u­la­tion and pri­vate expen­di­ture accounting for around 70% of spending. In terms of phar­macy chains, there is one ‘local giant’, Phar­ma­c­ity Jsc. 

As a fast-growing econ­omy in Asia, Viet­nam presents a tremen­dous oppor­tu­nity for for­eign health­care ­firms to estab­lish them­selves in a promis­ing Emerg­ing Mar­ket.

If you are planning on entering the Vietnamese Pharma market, our expertise and long-standing network can support you. Chameleon Pharma Consulting’s knowledge of the Vietnamese market is based on multiple projects over the past 10 years. All our experts have at least 20 years of experience, and we have supported several leading European and international companies in entering the Health care and Pharma sectors of Vietnam.