Russians no longer prefer buying cheap medicine; instead they buy expensive drugs, according to a study by DSM Group, which monitors the pharmaceutical market.
For the first time in three years, sales of low-cost medicines, between RUR 50 ($0.76) and RUR 500 ($7.6) apiece, have shown a downward trend. At the same time, sales of expensive drugs increased by 8%, as buyers purchased 227.7K of such drugs in the first half of 2019, Kommersant business daily reports.
Customers have bought 7.1% fewer medicines priced below RUR 50; sales in the RUR 50 to RUR 150 ($2.3) bracket, dropped by 3%. In the next bracket, from RUR 150 to RUR 500, the decline was 3.3%.
According to analysts, the reason for this trend is pharmacies offering a smaller range of inexpensive drugs now, while expanding the offer of more expensive drugs under marketing contracts. Furthermore, the average price of under-50-rubles medicines rose 5% over the year due to inflation, sending part of them to the next price category.