Romanians last year spent four times less than West Europeans on drugs per person.

The Romanian pharmaceutical market will witness average annual growth of 13.3% by 2010, according to estimates by KBC Securities analysts.

They expect drug consumption per capita in Romania to rapidly get close to the average of Central and Eastern Europe and subsequently to that of Western Europe.

Romanians spent 92 dollars on average on drugs per person last year, compared with an average of 135 dollars in Central and East-European states and of 374 dollars in Western Europe.

The domestic pharmaceutical market has witnessed rapid expansion in recent years, increasing by 18% in 2005 and by 20% in 2006, to 5.4bn RON (1.95bn euros).

The expansion was driven by the simplification of drug registration procedures and by the rising GDP per capita, shows KBC's survey.

KBC analysts expect the Romanian pharmaceutical sector to continue to grow faster than the overall economy.

Growth will be spurred by the development of the private medical services sector, the rising population incomes and life expectancy, as well as by the changing population behaviour, with people to focus more on prevention rather than treatment.

KBC estimates the over-the-counter drug market will rise faster than that of drugs released on the basis of a prescription, to witness average annual growth by 15.3% by 2013.

KBC considers pharmaceutical market rules in Romania are as strict as those in other states of Central and Eastern Europe, which is limiting downside risks.

Analysts do not rule out the possibility of the market witnessing bigger increases than they estimate as the Health Ministry changes drug calculation methods, though saying that it may not happen because of the unstable political environment.

The Health ministry plans to change the way drug