Statistics on medicines
The Estonian medicinal products market was approximately 2,959 billion EEK in 2009 (in wholesaler prices). There were 51 wholesalers and 44 of them sold medicinal products directly to general and hospital pharmacies and other institutions.
All the wholesalers report their drug sales data to the State Agency of Medicines 4 times a year. The reports include the following data for each product: ATC code, ingredients, trade name, pharmaceutical form, strength, package size and the manufacturer. The sales data are presented in monetary value and by unit of volume (number of packages).
From the data presented different statistical reports can be made using a special computer program.
The value of the sales to general and hospital pharmacies is presented in wholesalers prices:
the price of the manufacturer + wholesaler mark-up = wholesaler price
The Estonian medicinal products market (in million Estonian kroons):
| 2004 | % | 2005 | % | 2006 | % | 2007 | % | 2008 | % | 2009 | % |
| 1920 | 20,35 | 2012 | 4,79 | 2261 | 12,37 | 2666 | 17,9 | 2999 | 12,4 | 2959 | -1,4 |
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5 leading wholesalers are presented in the next table and only the sales of human medicinal products to general and hospital pharmacies and to other institutions have been included.
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Tamro Eesti OÜ | 29,86% | 30,49% | 30,19% | 31% | 31,46% | 30,18% |
| Magnum Medical OÜ | 42,38% | 25,88% | 26,65% | 27,19% | 29,34% | 29,58% |
| Apteekide Koostöö Hulgimüük OÜ | 15,02% | 12,94% | 12,37% | 12,90% | 16,22% | |
| OÜ Nordic Pharma | 4,74% | 10,01% | 11,64% | 11,04% | 10,59% | 8,10% |
| AS Oriola | 5,81% | 5,96% | 6,72% | 6,32% | 5,64% | 5,54% |
Almost 77 % of medicinal products were sold to the general pharmacies, 19% to the hospital pharmacies and 4% to the other institutions.
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Drug consumption data
The book "Estonian Statistics on Medicines" is a statistical summary of Estonian drug consumption data and is available since 1994. The figures included in this book represent sales from wholesalers to general and hospital pharmacies and to other institutions.
In order to provide better possibilities for sharing experiences and making comparisons, the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification of medicines and the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) methodology recommended by the World Health Organization is used. The national drug consumption statistics are expressed as a number of DDDs per 1000 inhabitants per day (DDD/1000/day).
The following example shows how the consumption of simvastatin was calculated, using the DDD of 0,015 g. Total sales of simvastatin in Estonia in 2006 was 52770 grams, which is converted into the number of DDDs (52770g/0,015g= 3 518 000 DDDs). For the population of Estonia (1.34 million) it makes 3518000/(1340 x 365)=7,19 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day. Thus, theoretically, more than seven persons amongst 1000 may have used the standard dose of simvastatin daily during year 2006.
Drug consumption data expressed in this way may provide a rough estimate of the proportion of the population within a defined area treated daily with certain drugs. An estimated drug consumption of 10 DDD/1000/day corresponds to a daily use of this drug by 1% of the population.
Estonian Statistics on Medicines 2006-2008
Estonian Statistics on Medicines 2006-2007
Estonian Statistics on Medicines 2002-2006
The DDD is the assumed average dose per day for the drug used in its main indication in adults. It is a technical unit of measurement and does not always correspond to the clinical dose actually used. When interpreting the figures provided by the wholesalers it is worth noting that some drugs may still be unused, either in pharmacies or in patient homes.
Results