Pharmacists explained why Russians began to buy less medicines

At the same time, experts note a phenomenal increase in sales of dietary supplements

Experts call medicines a subject of forced demand, which is why they are traditionally one of the main expense items in the personal budgets of Russians. For example, in 2023, the average compatriot spent 9.8 thousand rubles on drugs. For comparison: the products cost 60 thousand rubles. in year.

At the same time, during the “Green Cross” conference of pharmaceutical industry representatives held in Moscow, experts unanimously admitted that people began to save on medicines. Another trend is surprising: the dietary supplement market showed record growth in 2023—by 30%. Russians have become more willing to spend on supplements than on products with proven effectiveness.

On average, Russians’ spending on medicines increased by 6% in 2023. As Anna Ermolaeva, director of the marketing agency Alpha Research&Marketing, said, the most impressive expenses under this item were among residents of the Central Federal District (11.4 thousand rubles per year) and the Northwestern Federal District (11.8 thousand). At the same time, residents of St. Petersburg became the absolute leaders in drug spending – last year they bought an average of 14.8 thousand worth of drugs. Residents of the Moscow region came in second place (13 thousand rubles), and only in third place were Muscovites (12.4 thousand).

Anna Ermolaeva notes that for the first time since 2020, in 2023, demand returned to pre-pandemic times: “If you remember, at the beginning of the pandemic there was a shift in demand towards antiviral drugs, then to preventive drugs. After February 2022, the demand for expensive foreign drugs increased sharply due to the risk of their leaving the market. But now the situation is improving, stability is coming.”

The top sellers today, as in the good old days, are anticoagulants and antipyretics. The top 10 also includes antiviral and hepatoprotectors.

At the same time, Russians began to buy less medicine (5.81 billion packages were purchased in 2022, and already 5.69 billion in 2023). Director of the SRO Association of Independent Pharmacies, head of the Alliance of Pharmaceutical Associations Victoria Presnyakova says that this does not mean that the population has become sick less. It’s just that people are less likely to ask for help and are making do on their own. Usually a person uses quite a lot of medications and dietary supplements to maintain health. If their consumption decreases, it means that the person does not go to the doctor and does not receive advice on choosing the right medications. Numerous surveys prove that people first consult with friends and colleagues, turn to the Internet, then go to the pharmacy, and only after all of this, to the doctor. But you need to understand that at the individual level, the consequences of self-medication can be anything: from deterioration in health to death. If a person does not get to the clinic on time or does not receive a doctor’s consultation for various reasons, then he will still go to the pharmacy to get the medicine. So, in our opinion, we need to start restoring the lost interprofessional connection between the doctor and the pharmacist, and not start endless debates about who is more important. Steps towards each other must be taken from both sides. The topic of pharmaceutical care is increasingly discussed in professional circles, but today there is still no generally accepted understanding of what exactly is meant by this term.

“The logical first step would be to consolidate the definition of pharmaceutical care in regulatory legal acts,” says Victoria Presnyakova. “Today, a pharmacy employee can conduct a professional survey of the patient about complaints, identify alarming symptoms that indicate a possible deterioration of the condition. And then send him to a medical facility for examination. Pharmacists in other countries measure blood pressure, administer vaccinations, renew prescriptions and more. A similar practice can be introduced here too. In addition, we need to carry out more explanatory work with the population, and it would be better to start from school.”

At the same time, experts note a phenomenal increase in sales of dietary supplements. According to the Sirius agency, the growth of the additives market reached 30% in 2023 – from 17 to 26 billion rubles. For comparison, only 4 billion worth of drugs were sold last year. If we talk about the leaders in demand in this category, then most often Russians buy Omega and weight loss products.