The global pharmaceutical market has experienced significant growth in recent years. As of 2018 the total global pharmaceutical market is valued at about 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars. This is a significant increase from 2001 when the market was valued at just 390 billion U.S. dollars. The pharmaceutical market plays a key role in how people get medications and what people pay for medication. However, some markets are better for pharmaceutical companies than others.

Global pharmaceutical markets

Globally, the United States has emerged as the leading market for pharmaceuticals, followed by the group of emerging markets. Emerging markets can include middle and low-income countries such as Brazil, India, Russia, Colombia and Egypt, to name a few. Despite increasing revenues globally, the Latin American region accounts for the lowest share of the global pharmaceutical market’s revenues.

Top pharmaceuticals globally

The top pharmaceutical products sold globally include Humira, Eliquis and Revlimid. Many of these pharmaceuticals are approved to treat multiple chronic conditions or cancers. Oncologics is the top therapeutic class for drug sales globally, followed by antidiabetics (279916). However, the sales of drugs for autoimmune diseases and diabetes has experienced some of the largest growth in spending in recent years.