Thailand Pharmacy Retail Market Outlook to 2025: Ken Research

The report titled “Thailand Pharmacy Retail Market Outlook to 2025 - By Market Structure (Organized & Unorganized Segment); By Region / Cities (Bangkok & its Vicinity, Central, South, Northeast, North, Eastern & West); By Product Categories (Prescribed, OTC, Non-Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Equipment); By Therapeutic Areas; and By Product Type (Patented & Generic Drugs)” provides a comprehensive analysis on the performance of the pharmacy retail industry in Thailand. The report covers various aspects including number of pharmacies, revenue, trends & developments, issues & challenges faced by the industry, competition landscape, telemedicine players and others. Thailand pharmacy retail market report concludes with projections for future of the industry including forecasted revenue by 2025, market segmentations, COVID-19 impact and analysts’ take on the future.

Thailand Pharmacy Retail Market Overview and Size:

Volatile growth was observed within Thailand pharmacy retail market as multiple pharmacy stores closed due to the non-compliance of GPP standards required by the FDA. However, closure of pharmacy outlets resulted in higher customer footfall in other pharmacies; hence a lower revenue growth rate was recorded in the year 2019. The market was observed in growth stage owing to growing intensity of competition among the retail pharmacies in the market in terms of wide product offering and value added services. Franchise model has become quite popular with new chains adapting to this model for faster store expansion. Moreover, collaboration between state hospitals and small chains has helped patients being treated under “UHC” alongside growth of pharmacy stores. Change in population structure i.e. transition to the Thai aging society has led to surge in drugs (including dietary supplements) demanded towards chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and others. The market is booming owing to rising number of cases of NCDs, online pharmacy services, increasing government health expenditure and other growth drivers.

Thailand Pharmacy Retail Market Segmentation

By Market Structure (Organized and Unorganized Market):

The unorganized segment dominated in terms of revenue as well as basis number of pharmacy stores in Thailand during 2019. The particular segment is competitively positioned in OTC, Generics & Health Supplements & generally do not provide home delivery services.

On the other hand, the organized segment has established strong presence across all the regions in Thailand that resulted in higher footfall of customers at these outlets. In addition, organized chains have mobile applications, higher brand value, strong presence, and higher product listings & provide home delivery services.

By Product Categories (Prescribed Medicines, OTC, Non-Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment): Prescribed drugs dominated the market in terms of revenue in 2019 largely due to the higher price / margins involved. Among the other product categories, OTC & Non-Pharmaceutical products were consistently growing in terms of revenue share. Medical equipment captured the least revenue share.

By Drug Type (Generic and Patented Drugs): Generics Drugs within Thailand dominated in terms of revenue as it has high consumption volume alongside rising government healthcare schemes to increase patient purchasing power in the country. Whereas, patented drugs on the other hand are ailment specific.

By Therapeutic Class (Cardiovascular, Anti-Infective, Pain / Analgesics, Respiratory, Vitamins / Minerals / Nutrients, Anti Biotic, Gastrointestinal, Gynecology, Neuro, Oncology, Ophthalmology and Others): Cardiovascular class dominated the market in terms of revenue in 2019 majorly due to surge in Heart Failure (HF) risk factors such as obesity, hypertension & diabetes, related to changing lifestyle;  followed by Anti-infective segment.

By Region / Cities (Bangkok, Central, South, Northeast, North, Eastern, and Western): Bangkok and its vicinity captured the second highest number of pharmacy retail outlets (central region being the first) during 2019. However, in terms of revenues Bangkok region dominated majorly due to higher customer footfall & average basket size towards medicines in the particular region.

Comparative Landscape of Thailand Pharmacy Retail Market

Competition stage within retail pharmacy industry has become highly fragmented with numerous unorganized chain brands present across almost every region. On the other hand, penetration of organized space is increasing over the years with top five players including Watsons Thailand, Boots Thailand, and Pure Pharmacy by Big C, Fascino Drugstores and Save Drug. The players in the industry compete on the basis of parameters such as Number of Pharmacy Stores, Geographical Presence, Brand Recognition, and Partnerships with Telemedicine & E-Prescription Providers, product portfolio, online deliveries & Other Value Added Services.

Thailand Pharmacy Market Future Outlook & Projections

With growing ageing population, the number of people that are affected by chronic NCDs, especially hypertension will affect almost half of the elderly population in Thailand & less commonly, diabetes, heart disease, stroke & cancer thus, driving the demand from retail pharmacy chain in the near future. Increasing customer footfalls along with growth in tele-medicine for online consultations and home delivery services will drive industry growth over long term.