As the U.S. works several levers to lower drug pricing, such as Medicare negotiating costs with drugmakers and President Donald Trump launching TrumpRx, a report from the IQVIA Institute quantified how much more the U.S. pays for medications.
IQVIA, a clinical research company, published a report Oct. 21 detailing global drug expenditure trends from 2000 through 2022.
In 2022, the U.S. led in absolute and per capita spending compared to 11 other markets, the report found. The other markets were Japan, South Korea, Spain, Italy, Australia, Germany, Belgium, France, Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom. The average market spent 15% of healthcare expenditure on pharmaceuticals, according to IQVIA.
The U.S.’ per capita drug spending was approximately $2,000 in 2022, which the report said was driven by higher payments to hospitals and physicians, as well as administrative costs. Other countries range from $656 to $1,337 in per capita drug spending.
The World Health Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s reports often omit non-retail pharmacy drug spending, such as hospital spend, according to IQVIA, whose report estimates total spending across healthcare settings.
Here are three other findings:
1. Twenty percent of Japan’s healthcare expenditure in 2022 was attributable to drug spending, compared to 15% in the U.S. and 9% in the U.K., which had the lowest drug share and lowest per capita drug spending.
2. In 2000, the range in drug expenditure across these markets was wider, at 9% to 28%, whereas it was 9% to 20% in 2022.
3. Markets with higher percentages in drug spending, such as Japan, typically have lower absolute healthcare spending.
