Russian pharmacy drug sales rise 12% to 1,177.8 billion rubles in seven months
Medicine sales through Russian pharmacies reached 1,177.8 billion rubles in January–July 2026, up 12% in value, according to market data cited by Pharmvestnik. Growth came from prices and a shift to more expensive products, while pack volumes fell. The drug price index was 2.5%, driven entirely by products outside the state-regulated Vital and Essential Medicines List.
Sales of medicines in Russia's pharmacy channel reached 1,177.8 billion rubles in the first seven months of 2026, 12% more in value terms than in January–July 2025, according to market data cited by Pharmvestnik. The increase was generated by prices and by a shift in demand toward more expensive products, not by higher consumption: in pack terms the market declined.
Analysts quoted by the publication link the value growth to inflationary processes and to consumers switching to costlier medicines. Both factors describe a market that is expanding in rubles while losing physical volume, a pattern with direct consequences for manufacturers whose portfolios sit in the low-price part of the assortment.
Price growth sits entirely outside the regulated list
The drug price index for the seven-month period was 2.5%. All of that growth came from products not included in the Vital and Essential Medicines List (VED), where price inflation reached 3.9%. Prices for medicines on the VED list, for which maximum manufacturer prices are registered by the state, moved in the opposite direction: the index for that group was -0.5% in 2026.
The split means the 12% value growth is only partly a price effect. With an overall index of 2.5%, the larger share of the increase comes from the changing composition of the basket, as buyers move to more expensive packs within the same therapeutic categories.
Cheap medicines keep washing out of the assortment
The erosion of the low-price assortment has continued for many years, Pharmvestnik reports. In January–July, medicines priced below 100 rubles accounted for just 2.8% of pharmacy sales in value. In packs their weight remains material at almost 22%, which underlines how much cheaper a unit in that segment is relative to the rest of the market.
The 100–500 ruble band remains the demand leader and takes almost half of all pack sales. It is also the segment manufacturers target when they bring positions to market under import substitution, or when they widen the offering for a given international non-proprietary name with unbranded generics, making it the most crowded price tier on the market.
Prescription segment grows, over-the-counter falls
The contraction in pack volumes affected mainly over-the-counter products. Analysts attribute that to low incidence of acute respiratory viral infections during the cold season, the migration of buyers to online channels, and consumers looking for a better price.
The prescription segment grew faster than the market. Growth there is driven by demand for obesity treatments and by patients switching to more expensive medicines, a combination that lifts the average ticket while doing nothing for pack volumes.
Half of the top 100 manufacturers lose volume
Against a market that is shrinking in physical terms, most companies are posting negative pack dynamics and many are losing share. Among the top 100 manufacturers, which together hold 90% of the market:
- 32 companies increased sales in packs;
- 18 held volumes at last year's level, with growth between -2% and +2%;
- 50 companies recorded a marked decline in pack sales.
The top 10 Russian manufacturers hold 31.7% of the pharmacy market, and seven of them are in the group losing share. PFK Obnovlenie (Renewal) was the leader by pack-share gain among the top 10 domestic producers over the seven months, on the back of higher volumes in nasal preparations (ATC group R01), products for eye diseases (S01) and drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system (C09). Two other Russian producers, Genel and Ozon, also added share, though at visibly weaker rates.