HANOI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent over 1.3 billion U.S. dollars importing evidence-based medicines in the first five months of this year, up 4.2 percent against the same period last year, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade on Friday.
Vietnam's medicine import turnovers were roughly 3.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, with main suppliers including Britain, France, Germany, India, South Korea and the United States, according to the ministry.
According to global research firm BMI Research, Vietnam's pharmaceutical market grew some 10 percent from 2016 to 5.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, and it would continue to grow at a double-digit rate in the next five years.
On average, one Vietnamese person's annual spending on pharmaceutical products rose to 37.97 U.S. dollars in 2015 from 22.25 U.S. dollars in 2010 and 9.85 U.S. dollars in 2005, said local rating company Vietnam Report, which predicted that the spending would surge to 85 U.S. dollars by 2020 and 163 U.S. dollars by 2025. Enditem
