Main pharmacies in Mexico 2019, by size

As of March 2019, Mexico's largest pharmacy chain was FEMSA Health Division, with 2,348 points of sale all over the country. Farmacias Guadalajara came next on the list, with 2,043 business units. Meanwhile, Farmacias Benavides reported 1,174 stores operating in the North American country.

Pharma spending in Mexico

Spending on pharmaceuticals in Mexico has increased by over 27% in the last decade. This expanding trend is mostly driven by generic drugs and similar products, since they made up nearly 90 percent of the country’s pharma expenditure in 2019. Meanwhile, given their high prices, patented pharmaceutical products were used by only eight percent of the population.

COVID-19 and pharma e-commerce in Mexico

The lockdown measures established by the Mexican government due to the COVID-19 outbreak boosted e-commerce in the country, mostly in health-related areas. For instance, sales of pharmaceutical products in Mercado Libre, an online marketplace, increased by 114 percent in March 2020. Additionally, medications were the second most interesting product to purchase online between April and June 2020, after food.