In 2023, medical equipment and devices on the Russian retail market (e-com included) went up in price 6.2% from 2022. The inflation rates were vastly different for various types of medical equipment. In particular, the prices for blood glucose monitors went up the most, with the inflation rate never going down below zero, unlike the other four types of equipment. The prices for glucose monitors started to grow significantly in June 2023, peaking in April 2024 with 90.6%. In May 2024, the inflation rate decreased slightly, to 90.4% (Fig. 1). Another peculiarity is that the prices index in the online market for the most part of 2023 was significantly higher than that in the offline segment. In January–May 2024 2024, however, the price index in the online channel was not as high as that in the offline market, 63.5% against 72%. The total price index in the category was 78.4%.

In January–May 2024, 106.6 million minimum dosage units (MDU) of veterinary drugs worth 18.3 billion rubles (retail prices, VAT included) were sold on the Russian retail market, up 14% in rubles and up 10.6% in MDUs from January–May 2023. While the growth rates were positive in both online and offline segments, e-com has been growing at a higher rate for the last few years. Online sales grew by 68.3% in monetary and by around 46% in physical terms, and offline sales went up 4.3% and 5.7% in rubles and MDUs, respectively. Naturally, the share of the online segment increased to 22.4% in monetary and to 16.2% in physical terms.

In 2023, veterinary drugs on the Russian retail market (e-com included) went up in price 26.6% from 2022. The fastest price growth rates were seen in early 2023 (Fig. 1); as a result of the devaluation of the ruble and the subsequent correction of prices for imported goods on the Russian market, inflation surged in June–August 2023. By the end of the year, the prices had stabilized, dropping to a year-low. An upward trend began in January 2024 with 26.4%, peaking in March 2024 with 44.9%. In April 2024, however, the inflation rate started to go down, reaching 32.6% in May 2024. In January–May 2024, the price index was 35.4%.

In January–May 2024, only 23 brands* were available for sale in every Russian pharmacy (a numeric distribution** of more than 90%), which is 0.3% of the total number of brands on the retail market. Despite their number, these 23 brands account for 7.9% of the retail sales in monetary terms and for 10.9% in physical terms.

In January–May 2024, products of around 8,400 brands, including unbranded products of various manufacturers, were on the market. At the same time, only 553, or 6.6% of those brands were available in more than half of Russian pharmacies (a numeric distribution of more than 50%). We thought it was important to analyze the brands with a numeric distribution increase in January–May 2024, given that they accounted for only around 22% of the total number of brands. In addition, some 200 brands had a more than 5-percent increase, and the distribution of only nine of them went up by more than 20%. The drugs with the highest numeric distribution, however, did not see any significant change in availability.