Pharmacy chains earned 2.8 billion rubles from antidepressant sales in January-February 2025. A total of 3.2 million packages were sold since the start of the year, according to data from the analytical company DSM Group, as reported by Vedomosti.
This figure is 30% higher in monetary terms and 15% higher in quantity compared to last year. A significant increase in sales of these medications since the beginning of 2025 was also recorded by RNC Pharma. In a conversation with the publication, the company’s development director, Nikolai Bespalov, stated that over the first 8 weeks of the year (from January 1 to February 23), 3.14 million packages were sold in Russian pharmacies. According to him, the positive dynamics compared to the same period in 2024 amounted to 24.5% in volume.
The demand for antidepressants began to rise back in March 2022. In the first days of March that year, sales of such medications totaled 577,600 packages worth 525.6 million rubles. This was three times higher in volume and four times higher in monetary terms compared to the previous year.
Due to high demand, some medications occasionally disappear from pharmacy shelves. In particular, since the beginning of 2025, there has been a shortage of “Zoloft,” one of the most popular antidepressants based on sertraline, in Moscow.
Source: GxP news, March 12, 2025.
