PMR Report: The number of pharmacies in Central Europe is declining

Ten post jest także dostępny w języku: polski

In 2018, the number of pharmacies in Central Europe dropped for the first time in many years, according to the PMR report. All this was caused by the deterioration of business conditions. In total, in six countries of the region (Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria), the number of pharmacies in 2018 was approximately 35,800. This number includes pharmacies and pharmacies, excluding drugstores and hospital pharmacies.

The largest network of pharmacies in the region, taking into account individual countries, is run by DOZ. It operates only in Poland. As we reported recently, DOZ has applied to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection to take over the Medix network. Since 2012, the second largest network in Central Europe has been the Romanian Catena. In the last six years, the number of Catena outlets has almost doubled.

The Czech private equity fund Penta operates the largest network in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Dr. Max). Also in Poland, Dr. Max is the largest independent pharmacy network (i.e. with no connections to wholesalers). At the same time, in Romania, Dr. Max is rapidly increasing the number of his pharmacies and is already the number two player.