Industry revenue of »dispensing chemist in specialised stores« in Belgium 2011-2023

Belgium’s overall pharmaceutical industry and OTC drugs have both experienced only marginal growth over the last decade. This has had a cascading effect on the country’s pharmacies who’s revenues are expected to plateau over the period 2018-2023, increasing from 7 billion U.S. dollars to just 7.2 billion U.S. dollars.

One of the main reasons for this tepid growth is drug shortages not only in Belgium but throughout Europe. In fact, in Belgium, only 56% of the medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) were available to patients of 2018. As of July 2019, the country’s pharmacies were short of as many as 450 prescription medicines. This situation is expected to get worse in the short to medium term as the industry battles the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic. With many countries around the world relying heavily on China for vital medicines, global supply chains are expected to face major disruption.