Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market Outlook to 2025

The report titled “Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market Outlook to 2025-By Market Structure (Organized & Unorganized); By Region (North, South & Central); By Hospital-based & Street/Mall-based; By Product Categories (Prescribed, OTC, Non-Pharmaceutical Products & Medical Equipment); By Therapeutic Areas; and By Product Type (Patented & Generic Drugs)” provides a comprehensive analysis of the retail pharmacy operations in Vietnam. The report covers various aspects including the current healthcare scenario, usage of contraceptives and family planning, health insurance scenario, supply structure for pharmacy retail, trends & recent developments, issues & challenges, SWOT Analysis, BCG Matrix, telemedicine scenario, operating model of pharmacies, competition scenario & more. The report concludes with future projections for the industry including market revenue by 2025, market segmentations, Covid-19 impact and analysts’ recommendations for existing players & new entrants.

Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market Overview and Size

The Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market is in growing stage with increasing healthcare awareness due to growth of ageing population and rising per capita drug expenditure.

The rising cases of non-communicable diseases have also contributed to the growth in the demand for drugs across various therapeutic classes. In recent years, chain pharmacy stores have been increasing their presence by opening new stores in different provinces. Government initiatives such as launching of a national medicine database as well as telemedicine platform are also positively impacted the industry. Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market witnessed a revenue growth of 6.8% during 2014-2019 and CAGR of 8.7% basis number of pharmacies.

Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market Segmentations

By Market Structure: TheVietnam Pharmacy Retail Market is dominated by the presence of Unorganized Pharmacies in the term of number of stores as well as revenue. The customers prefer to purchase prescribed medicines from unorganized pharmacies as majority of these pharmacies as these are easily accessible and located on every corner. The organized pharmacies are offering services such as in store consultation, wide product assortments, special discounts and offers for members and other value added services for attracting customers.

By Region: The 63 provinces of Vietnam can be broadly divided into three regions: Northern, Southern & Central. Currently, the southern region, particularly Ho Chi Minh & neighboring provinces are home of maximum number of pharmacies in the country & also contribute the highest revenue. Ho Chi Minh alone has ~6,000 pharmacies in 2019.

By Type of Sales: Prescribed Medicines were the most selling category in the overall market in 2019. This is mostly due to the demand for maintenance medicines by the ageing population. The organized pharmacies are focusing on selling more non pharmaceutical products such as beauty & FMCG as well as medical equipment, as they help in increasing the store profitability.

By Location of Pharmacy: On the basis of number of pharmacies, majority of the pharmacies were observed to be located in streets, malls, shopping complexes, etc. Residential areas, busy streets near hospitals are most preferred locations for setting up pharmacies. The number of private pharmacies located inside hospital premises accounted for a very small percentage of the total number of pharmacies in Vietnam. 

By Type of Drug: Generic drugs contributed majority of the revenue of the pharmacy retail industry in Vietnam in 2019. This has been due to the fact that generics are more affordable & accessible to a large section of the society which falls under low to medium income category. Patented medicines are generally prescribed by international hospitals & clinics. Most pharmacies in Vietnam offer a mix of Patented Medicines and Generic Medicines.

By Therapeutic Class: The medicines sold in Vietnam can be classified in different therapeutic classes such as cardiovascular, pain/analgesics, anti-infective, anti-diabetic, vitamins, minerals and nutrients, respiratory, and others on the basis of the type of disease they are used to cure. The cardiovascular drugs have highest demand in the region due to the ageing population. Rising cases of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes & respiratory diseases have also lead to an increase in demand for these drugs.

Competitive Landscape in the Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market

The Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market has presence of ~62,500 pharmacies as of 2019. The top five pharmacy chains on the basis of number of stores are Pharmacity, Long Chau, Guardian, Medicare and Phano Pharmacy as of November 2020. The competition in market is highly fragmented, with pharmacy chains accounting for a very small percentage of the total industry revenue as well as total number of stores. The organized chains are trying to establish a strong presence in the market by rapidly expanding their store network, offering various services such as integrating stores with latest technologies for better in-store experience, membership programs & loyalty schemes, special promotion offers and discounts, delivery services and more.

Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market Future Outlook & Projections: The industry is expected to witness a CAGR of 8.1% on the basis of revenue by 2025. Fast growing aging population is projected to positively impact the industry with median age in the country expected to hit 42.1 years by 2050. Pharmacy chains are expected to increase their presence in the future by opening new stores in the northern and central regions or acquiring small independent stores or regional chains. Seeing the opportunity in the country, pharmacy chains having large presence in South East Asia including Matsumoto Kiyoshi & Watsons have recently entered the market and more players are expected to enter into the industry and expand their presence. 

Key Topics Covered in the Report

• Overview and Genesis of Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Industry
• Vietnam Demographics, Healthcare Overview & Health Statistics
• Usage of Contraception & Family Planning Practices in Vietnam
• Health Insurance Scenario  
• Trends and Growth Drivers in the Industry and Challenges Faced
• Vietnam Pharmacy Retail Market Size and Segmentations, 2014-2019
• Telemedicine & Growth of Hybrid Pharmacies 
• Customer Decision Making Parameters & Brand Perception Mapping
• Industry SWOT Analysis and BCG Matrix
• Cross Comparisons between Pharmacy Retail Chains and Company Profiles
• Future Market Size and Segmentations, 2020-2025F
• Covid-19 Impact on the Industry, Future Trends & the Way Forward
• Analysts’ Recommendations