Medicines consumption by DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID) 2019-2023 is available HERE (Excel file)
The consumption of medicines in the report was calculated using the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommended ATC/DDD classification system, which allows for standardised grouping of medicines and the use of an international unit of consumption - the Defined Daily Dose (DDD). Using the ATC/DDD classification system, it is possible to compare the consumption of medicines between world regions and countries, and to assess trends in the use of medicines over time. According to WHO: “The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults”. The DDD is a unit of measurement and does not necessarily reflect the recommended or Prescribed Daily Dose. Therapeutic doses for individual patients and patient groups will often differ from the DDD as they will be based on individual characteristics (such as age, weight, ethnic differences, type and severity of disease) and pharmacokinetic considerations.
It should also be noted that the consumption of medicines in DID’s was not calculated for all medicines, but only for about 60% of all medicinal products sold in Latvia for which the WHO classification DDDs are applicable. In this reports consumption in DID units was calculated for authorised, parallel imported and parallel distributed medicines in Latvia. For the calculation WHO approved DDDs for non-combination products were used. Consumption of DDDs is also excluded for medicines for which DDDs are not assigned by WHO ATC/DDD system, such as topical products (dermatological products), sera, vaccines, antineoplastic agents, allergen extracts, general and local anesthetics and contrast media.
This report includes data on the consumption of medicines from 2019 to 2023 and the consumption is expressed in defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID). The calculations were made according to the current ATC/DDD classification, which was approved in January 2024.
For the calculations included in the report, monthly sales reporting data provided by licensed pharmaceutical wholesalers were used.
For monthly, quarterly and annual consumption of medicinal products, as well as the dynamics of the medicinal products market, please visit the "Publications and statistics" > "Official statistics" section of the website.
