Merck Group | Sales by region |
Merck Group | Sales by region |
Accounting for nearly half of sales, Europe is Merck’s largest market, followed by Asia as well as North America and Latin America. Within Europe, France was once again our top-selling country, where sales increased by 5.6% to € 779 million. Posting slight growth in sales to € 722 million, Germany was our second-largest market, followed by Italy with sales of € 343 million and growth of 7.5%. We increased sales in Poland by 22% to € 86 million and in Russia by 60% to € 72 million. By contrast, sales declined in the United Kingdom due to currency effects.
Traditionally, our sales in Asia are mainly attributable to liquid crystals. Strong currency effects in these markets led to only a moderate 3.7% increase in total Group sales in Asia to € 1,663 million. However, within the Pharmaceuticals business sector, sales increased in Asia by 22% to € 523 million, with China posting an 86% rise to € 116 million. In Japan, our pharmaceutical sales soared by 64% to € 30 million in 2008.
In the North American market, which has grown significantly in importance since 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Serono, Group sales increased by 4.9% to € 1,015 million in 2008, with the United States accounting for € 912 million of the total. Negative currency effects also played a strong role here, resulting in a growth rate in the United States of only 5.6%.
In Brazil, our largest market in Latin America, sales increased by 28% to € 248 million. However, in Mexico, our second-largest market in the region, sales declined by 8.5% to € 166 million due to overstocking by pharmaceutical wholesalers. By contrast, Venezuela and Argentina delivered excellent performances, with growth rates exceeding 25%.