Drug prices are rising faster in Canada

However, the conclusion is very different when we look at the comparison of this price increase in Canada with the reference countries studied by the PMPRB. Indeed, of the 11 reference countries, only the Netherlands (2.0%) experienced a greater increase than Canada.

And all of the other ten countries are not only experiencing less growth, but nine of them have seen patented medicine prices decline over the course of 2023. Prices fell 4.0% in Australia, 3.3% in Belgium and 2.3% in France.

Ultimately, the prices practiced in Canada are higher than all the reference countries for the year 2023. For a price index of 100 in Canada, the index is only 69 in France, 71 in Australia and 78 in Sweden. “This means that Canadians would have paid 31% less for their patented medicines in 2023 if they had been able to buy them at the prices charged in France,” illustrates the PMPRB report.

And Canadian prices for patented medicines are the fourth highest among the 31 OECD countries, also notes the PMPRB.

It should be noted, however, that for the third consecutive year, the rate of variation of the patented medicine price index is below 1% in Canada, in line with the price evolution observed between 2014 and 2018. Only 2019 and 2020 have surpassed this level over the past decade.

In total, sales of patented medicines in Canada reached $19.9 billion in 2023, an increase of 8.2% from the previous year. Patented medicines represented 47% of total drug sales in Canada in 2023.