Trends, Capacity Growth, and Current State of Community Pharmacies in Saudi Arabia: Findings and Implications of a 16-Year Retrospective Study

Figures & data

Figure 1 Calculation methods used to measure the indicators (ie, rate, density and ratio).

Abbreviation: n, number.

Table 1 Number, Percentage, and Density of Community Pharmacies in Saudi Arabia by Administrative Region in 2022

Administrative Region	Region Population^a	Number of Community Pharmacies^b	Percentage of Pharmacies^c	Community Pharmacies Per 10,000 People
Riyadh	8,591,748	3409	32.95	3.97
Makkah	8,021,463	2601	25.14	3.24
Eastern region	5,125,254	998	9.65	1.95
Aseer region	2,024,285	705	6.81	3.48
Madinah	2,137,983	583	5.63	2.73
Jazan	1,404,997	549	5.31	3.91
Qassim	1,336,179	498	4.81	3.73
Hail	746,406	213	2.06	2.85
Tabuk	886,036	345	3.33	3.89
Najran	592,300	138	1.33	2.33
Al-Jouf region	595,822	137	1.32	2.30
Al-Baha	339,174	87	0.84	2.57
Northern borders	373,577	84	0.81	2.25
Total	32,175,224	10,347	100	3.22

Notes: ^aData source: Saudi General Authority for Statistics (Saudi Census 2022).⁵¹ Data source: Saudi Ministry of Health (Statistical Yearbook 2022).^{50 c}Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%.

Figure 2 Number of community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia (2007–2022).

Figure 3 Annual rate of growth of community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia (2007–2022).

Figure 4 Number of community pharmacists (2007–2022).

Note: Data for 2012 were not available.

Figure 5 Density of community pharmacies and community pharmacists per 10,000 people and ratio of pharmacists per pharmacy in 2007 and 2022.

Figure 6 Number of pharmacists by healthcare sector in 2022.

Note: Data source: Ministry of Health Statistical Yearbook 2022.

Table 2 Distribution of Gender and Nationality of Pharmacists Working in Community Pharmacies in Saudi Arabia (2016–2022)^a

Number of Pharmacists	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Gender
Men, n (%)	14,353 (99.71)	16,820 (99.59)	17,046 (99.35)	18,750 (99.35)	16,780 (94.19)	18,649 (89.23)	19,278 (89.05)
Women, n (%)	42 (0.29)	69 (0.41)	112 (0.65)	123 (0.65)	1035 (5.81)	2251 (10.77)	2370 (10.95)
Nationality
Saudi, n (%)	214 (1.49)	305 (1.81)	528 (3.08)	581 (3.08)	2271 (12.75)	4267 (20.42)	4306 (19.90)
Non-Saudi, n (%)	14,181 (98.51)	16,584 (98.19)	16,630 (96.92)	18,292 (96.92)	15,544 (87.25)	16,633 (79.58)	17,342 (80.10)
Total number
n	14,395	16,889	17,158	18,873	17,815	20,900	21,648

Note: ^aDue to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%.

Abbreviation: n, number.

Table 3 Comparison of Community Pharmacists with Other Healthcare Sectors by Gender and Nationality (2022)

Variable	Community Pharmacy (n=21,648)	MoH Hospitals (n=4031)	MoH PHCs (n=446)	OGS (n=2462)	Private Hospitals (n=2431)	Private Medical Complexes (n=292)
Women % (n)^a	10.95 (2370)	40.04% (1614)	39.91% (178)	46.83% (1153)	61.95% (1506)	33.90% (99)
Saudi % (n)^a	19.90% (4306)	97.07% (3913)	99.78% (445)	83.27% (2050)	48.42% (1177)	36.99% (108)

Notes: Percentages were calculated using data from the MoH Statistical Yearbook 2022.^{50 a}Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%.

Abbreviations: n, number; OGS, other government sector; MoH, Ministry of Health; PHC, primary health center.

Figure 7 (A) Percentage of female pharmacists in community pharmacies compared to other healthcare sectors; (B) Percentage of Saudi pharmacists in community pharmacies compared to other healthcare sectors.

Figure 8 Growth in percentage of female and Saudi pharmacists and association with regulations and policies.

Abbreviation: CP, community pharmacy.

General Authority for Statistics SA. Saudi Census 2022. Available from: https://portal.saudicensus.sa/portal/public/1/15/101462. Accessed March 3, 2023.

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Ministry of Health SA. Statistical Yearbook 2022. Available from: https://www.moh.gov.sa/Ministry/Statistics/book/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed September 21, 2023.

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