Canadian Trends and Projections in Prescription Drug Purchases: 2001–2023

Abstract


 Limited data are available to understand costs and trends over time in the Canadian pharmaceutical market across all sectors. To fill this gap, a retrospective time series analysis of annual prescription drug purchases in Canada between 2001 and 2020 was conducted using data from the IQVIA Canadian Drugstore and Hospital Purchases Audit.
 Spending has grown over the past 2 decades at a steady pace, with annual average growth of 5.3% and 7.1% in the retail and hospital sectors, respectively. Total prescription purchases in 2020 were approximately $32.7 billion, 4.3% higher than in 2019 (3.8% growth in retail, 6.9% in hospital).
 New approvals of specialty and oncology drugs and generic formulations of the top 25 drugs may influence drug purchases in 2021 to 2023.
 Overall drug purchases in Canada are projected to continue growing. The forecast for the outpatient sector is continued moderate levels of growth in drug spending (3% to 4%), with higher rates of growth (7% to 8%) in the hospital setting.
 Action should be taken to curb sustained growth in pharmaceutical spending in Canada. Otherwise, these costs may be shifted to other budgets, private industry, and/or patients.