Drug prices vary in developed countries

While the prices of some prescription drugs are lower in Canada than in the U.S., as a percent of gross domestic product, Canada and the United States spend about the same percentage – roughly 1.5 percent of GDP.

According to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development:

Greece, Portugal and France spend more, proportionally, on pharmaceuticals than the U.S. and Canada – roughly 2 percent or more of GDP(see figure
http://www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder/graphics/bg1398cht3.gif )

Switzerland and Australia, by contrast, spend less than 1 percent of GDP on drugs.

And Sweden and the United Kingdom spend around 1 percent of GDP on drugs.

Source: James Frogue, A High Price For Patients: An Update On Government Health Care In Britain And Canada, Backgrounder No.1398, September 26, 2000, Heritage Foundation.

For Heritage text http://www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder/bg1398.html

For more on Cost Issues http://www.ncpa.org/pi/health/hedex11.html