HK pharmaceutical market to grow steadily

The Hong Kong pharmaceutical market should reach HKD10.56 billion by 2014, up from the calculated HKD7.19 billion in 2009.

This was revealed by the “Hong Kong Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q1 2011” of the Research and Markets.

The figure represents a compound annual growth rate of 7.99 per cent in local currency terms, which will somewhat decrease to 7.06 per cent over our longer, ten-year forecast period to 2019. A testament to its attractiveness, Hong Kong now occupies fifth place in the Asia Pacific Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings matrix for Q111, which ranks 17 key regional markets.

The above forecasts are based on a number of trends and expectations. Private per-capita drug expenditure will continue to rise as the government aims to cut public sector deficits and as expected changes facilitate the creation of private pharmacies in hospitals. Additionally, the proposed voluntary health insurance scheme also has the potential to improve the breadth of healthcare service and the use of pharmaceuticals. Healthcare uptake in general is projected to rise, in part due to population expansion, but mainly because the proportion of older people within the population is rising, which requires more attention to chronic diseases.