New data from the HDA Research Foundation show that sales through traditional pharmaceutical distributors grew 11.6% 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,” says 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% from 40.5% in 2024, while sales to specialty pharmacies rose to 7.4% from 6.4%. Independent drug stores accounted for 10.6% of distributor sales, down from 11.7%, while hospitals and HMOs represented 12.7%.
The mix of products sold through distributors also evolved. Brand-name prescription drugs accounted for 51.1% of sales, down from 52.2% in 2024. Generic drug sales decreased from 6.1% in 2024 to 5.4% in 2025. Meanwhile, the specialty branded prescription drug segment continued to show longer-term growth for distributors; the segment now accounts for 40.5% of total sales, up from 38.5% in 2024.
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% of invoice lines for “raw orders,” up from 89% in 2024. Manufacturers’ inability to ship accounted for 88% 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% of the total in 2025, while information technology represented 26%. Machinery and equipment increased to 31% 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.
