Jennifer Mendoza
Research expert covering health, pharma and medtech
Pharmaceutical industry in Brazil - Statistics & Facts
With the emergence of new diseases worldwide, such as COVID-19, research, development, and production of new drugs are essential for maintaining and improving basic public health conditions, a goal that is considered a development priority. As a result, the pharmaceutical market has always been and will possibly remain one of the most important markets in the world, reaching a revenue of more than 1.12 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. In Latin America, Brazil is the only country that ranks amongst the top pharmaceutical markets worldwide, with a global share of approximately 2.2 percent, and a value of nearly 23 billion U.S. dollars.
The Brazilian pharmaceutical business
Drug production, as part of the manufacturing industry, is very important for Brazil’s economy in terms of value added and employment generated. The pharmaceutical industry in Brazil reached a production value of more than 52 billion Brazilian reals in 2020, with medications accounting for 95 percent of the total value. That year, the Brazilian pharmaceutical industry employed over one million people in the wholesale and retail segments, with the retail sector making up the highest share of the working force within this sector.An industry run mostly by national companies
In regard to global leading pharmaceutical companies, the American corporations Pfizer and AbbVie stand out. Together, they accounted for more than 127 billion U.S. dollars in prescription sales in 2021. However, in the Brazilian market, domestic companies lead the business and rank highly on the list of producers. For example, Eurofarma S.A., a prominent Brazilian multinational pharmaceutical corporation, reached a net revenue of approximately eight billion Brazilian reals in 2022, an increase of over two billion reals compared to 2020, when a revenue of nearly six billion reals was reported.Research and development
More than any other industry, the pharmaceutical sector is highly dependent on scientific research and development. Clinical trials, in particular, are a crucial step in the process of new drugs becoming available on the market. From 2015 to 2019, Brazil accounted for around two percent of the total number of participants in clinical trials worldwide, against rates such as 35 percent in the U.S., or four percent in countries like Germany, Poland, and Russia. However, on a regional level, Brazil is the Latin American country where the most clinical trials have been performed, with over 9,000 studies recorded as of June 2023.
