Although the German economy grew by another 3%, growth impetus tapered off especially in Europe owing to the debt and euro crisis, as governments reduced measures to stimulate the economy. Private demand was unable to offset this, particularly as consumers faced the risks and turmoil stemming from the debt crisis, the Japanese earthquake in March, and the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), gross domestic product (GDP) of the industrialized countries increased by 1.6% in 2011, compared with 3.2% in 2010. The IMF stated that global GDP rose by 3.8% in 2011. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also expects the GDP of its 34 member states to increase by 1.9% in 2011. Therefore, according to both institutions, not the industrial countries, but emerging markets and developing countries were the engines of global growth.
Merck operates the businesses of its four divisions in two business sectors, Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals.
Pharmaceutical market
IMS Health, a provider of pharmaceutical industry market data, forecasts that global pharmaceutical sales will amount to around US$ 880 billion (around +6%) in 2011. According to IMS Health, the top global therapeutic classes in terms of sales are oncologics, lipid regulators, respiratory agents and antidiabetics. In geographic terms, the largest markets are as follows: the United States, followed by Japan, China and Germany.
According to the market research firm Nicholas Hall, the global volume of the over-the-counter drugs market rose by 4.5% in 2011 to € 81 billion. Europe is the most important market, followed by North America, Asia (excluding Japan), Japan and Latin America.
Chemical market
The chemical industry developed dynamically in 2011. According to ICIS, a chemical market research institute, global chemical industry growth will exceed that of global GDP in the coming years.
For specialty chemicals, a field in which Merck operates, ICIS expects global production to rise by 3.5% in 2011. In the course of 2011, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) lowered its original annual forecast for production growth of its member companies from 4.5% to 2.5%.
For 2011, the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) reported an increase in chemical production of 4% compared to 2010. Total sales of the German chemical industry rose by 9% in 2011 to € 186.5 billion. Consequently, Germany ranks fourth globally after the United States, China and Japan.
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