HDA Factbook: Pharmaceutical distributor sales grow as operational efficiency remains strong

WASHINGTON — New data from the HDA Research Foundation show that sales through traditional pharmaceutical distributors grew 11.6 percent in 2025, reaching $969 billion. Published in the 97th Edition HDA Factbook, the findings provide a comprehensive look at the financial and operational performance of the pharmaceutical distribution sector.

“The latest Factbook demonstrates the scale and efficiency required to support the healthcare supply chain every day,” said Perry Fri, chief industry relations officer and president of the HDA Research Foundation. “Even as distributors operated on net profit margins of just 0.48 percent, they improved productivity, order fulfillment and expense management while continuing to invest in the systems and operations needed to serve customers and ensure patients can access the medicines they need.”

Sales across customer types shifted during the year. Total distributor sales to chain drug stores increased to 44.5 percent from 40.5 percent in 2024, while sales to specialty pharmacies rose to 7.4 percent from 6.4 percent. Independent drug stores accounted for 10.6 percent of distributor sales, down from 11.7 percent, while hospitals and HMOs represented 12.7 percent. 

The mix of products sold through distributors also evolved. Brand-name prescription drugs accounted for 51.1 percent of sales, down from 52.2 percent in 2024. Generic drug sales decreased from 6.1 percent in 2024 to 5.4 percent in 2025. Meanwhile, the specialty branded prescription drug segment continued to show longer-term growth for distributors; the segment now accounts for 40.5 percent of total sales, up from 38.5 percent in 2024.​

View an executive summary and infographic of key HDA Factbook data for the 2025 operating year.

Published annually since 1929, the HDA Factbook is based on surveys collected at the corporate level of HDA traditional distributor member companies with annual sales greater than $1 billion. Secondary data from leading healthcare industry organizations complement the primary data to illustrate overall distributor demographics and trends in operations, information technology, market characteristics, customers and product mix, among other areas.

As reported within the new Factbook:

• Distributors continued to pick more than 10.5 million units per business day, with the average traditional distribution center processing 4,600 orders and approximately 102,000 units on a daily basis.
• Distributors filled 91.2 percent of invoice lines for “raw orders,” up from 89 percent in 2024. Manufacturers’ inability to ship accounted for 88 percent of unfilled invoice lines.
• Average employee compensation increased to $91,000 in 2025 from $86,500 in 2024.
• Distributors held approximately $55 billion in inventory on any given day, while average inventory remained at 22 days on hand.
• Capital expenditures increased to $685 million, compared with $386 million in 2024. Land, buildings, vehicles and other expenditures accounted for 44 percent of the total in 2025, while information technology represented 26 percent. Machinery and equipment increased to 31 percent of total capital spending.

The 97th Edition HDA Factbook: The Facts, Figures and Trends in Healthcare (2026–2027) is available as a complimentary download from HDA.org. The publication was made possible with support from gold sponsors Apotex Corp. and Real Value Rx; silver sponsor R&S Northeast LLC; and bronze sponsors Ascend Laboratories, LLC, Granules Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals.