In January–November 2021, the sales of veterinary drugs in the Russian retail market amounted to 19.9 billion rubles (retail prices, VAT included), up 4.7% from January–November 2020. The offline segment is under severe pressure from the rapidly developing online business, since the online sales increased 3.2 times in monetary terms (rubles). In physical terms, the growth rate was –6.6% in monetary dosage units (MDU), with the total sales volume of 155.7 million MDUs.

In January–November 2021, Russian manufacturers produced 546.4 billion rubles’ worth of pharmaceutical drugs (manufacturer’s prices, VAT included), up 20.1% from the same period in 2020. In physical terms, the production volume was 3.73 billion packages, down 16% from 2020. If calculated in minimum dosage units (MDU), the growth rate was also negative (–5.1%), with the production volume of 70.9 billion MDUs.

In January–November 2021, the retail sales of veterinary drugs through the top online marketplaces in Russia amounted to 673.3 million rubles (retail prices, VAT included), having increased 3.2 times from January–November 2020. The sales through marketplaces accounted for 3.5% of the total veterinary retail sales against 1.2% in January–November 2020. In physical terms, the sales declined 2.7 times from 2020, if calculated in minimum dosage units (MDU). The sales volume was 4.7 million MDUs.

In Q1–Q3 2021, the total volume of the online sales or reservations of pharmaceutical products (pharmaceutical drugs and parapharmaceuticals) in Russia amounted to RUB 141.6 billion (end-user prices, VAT included), 34.5% up from the same period in 2020. The total growth rate of the Russian pharmaceutical retail was just over 3%. After the disastrous results of Q1 2021, the largest growth was in Q2–Q3 2021.

This year’s growth rates of the Russian pharmaceutical retail market are in no way comparable to those in 2020. The panic and the associated rush demand have more or less subsided. With the inflation rates at a high level, the purchasing power leaves much to be desired, even despite the impressive income growth in Q2 and Q3. In addition, conventional pharmacies are under severe pressure from various online projects, which have been adding more and more services, including express delivery, which in some situations is critical for the consumer.