Canadians spent an estimated $21.1 billion on prescribed drugs last year, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
The CIHI annual report says the spending, an average of $648 per person, is $1.4 billion higher than 2005.
"Prescribed drugs have been one of the fastest-growing components of total health spending over the past two decades," Michael Hunt, manager of Pharmaceutical Programs at CIHI, said in a statement.
"(Sales) continue to outpace most other health sectors, including spending on hospitals."
Since 1997, prescribed and non-prescribed medications have accounted for the second-largest share of health spending, behind hospitals.
CIHI estimates that total drug spending in Canada reached $25.2 billion in 2006, an increase of 6 per cent over the previous year.
Prescribed drugs accounted for the biggest share of total drug spending, an estimated 84 per cent, in 2006.
Canada ranked third for total drug spending, behind the United States and France, of 17 in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development with comparable health reporting systems.
The report also said that prescription drug purchasing within the country was highest in Quebec, followed by Ontario. Alberta had the highest increase in spending.
On average across Canada, 46 per cent of the total prescribed drug bill is financed by the government. Among provinces, Quebec had the highest per person public sector spending.
P.E.I.'s public expenditure, $204 per person, was almost $150 less than Quebec's.
"These variations are influenced by a number of factors, including differences in federal, provincial and territorial drug subsidy programs, variations in the age distributions and disease patterns across jurisdictions, as well as differences in health care delivery," said Hunt.
Poland, the United States, and Mexico were the only OECD countries with shares of public drug expenditures smaller than those of Canada.
