Exports amount jumps 86.6%.. 58.2% growth in 8-month
The pharmaceutical market for domestic and exports are at odds.
The monthly retail sales of August remained at \1.8493 trillion, +2.7% YoY, the Statistics Korea said.
This year, pharmaceutical products’ retail sales increased with the spread of COVID-19 and expanded its growth for four consecutive months from March to June.
However, after the growth declined to 6.5% in July, it plunged to 2.7% in August.
Monthly retail sales also steadily fell after peaking at \1.97 trillion in May and retreated from the \1.9 billion marks in July.
Nevertheless, the 8-month cumulative retail sales amounted to \15.3926 trillion, with an increase of 8.0% YoY, maintaining a higher growth rate than the previous years.
On the other hand, the amount of outpatient prescription still remains sluggish.
The August growth rate improved 1.8% from July to 3.2%, but the prescription amount recorded $1.2491 trillion, the lowest in the past three months.
The cumulative eight-month prescription amount was \9.8876 trillion, +0.6% YoY.
Among them, pharmaceutical exports have been soaring. Exports rose 86.6% YoY to $576.74 million in August, and it was the second-highest growth of the year after 99.6% in May.
Its growth rate, which had fallen to the 50% level since it made nearly 100% growth in May, has been on the rise for two consecutive months.
The 8-month exports stood at $4,245.90 million, +58.2% YoY.
