Markets

The World’s 50 Largest Pharmaceutical Companies

Published

1 year ago

January 25, 2024

Pranav Gavali

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Dorothy Neufeld

The World's Largest Pharmaceutical Companies by Market Capitalization

The World’s 50 Largest Pharmaceutical Companies

Globally, big pharma revenues have grown by more than half a trillion dollars since 2012, driven by an aging global population.

American drugmakers make up the greatest market share worldwide by far, supported by high prices in a less regulated market. Yet with 190 drug patents expiring in the next decade, many companies face steep revenue losses at the hands of generic competitors.

This graphic, from Pranav Gavali, shows the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Ranked: The Top 50 Pharmaceutical Giants

Together, the 50 biggest drugmakers make up a combined $4.7 trillion in market capitalization.

With a market cap of over $578 billion, American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is the world’s most valuable, known for diabetes medications and its newly-launched weight-loss drug. The average price of insulin in the U.S. is more than five times higher than other countries.

Ranking	Name	Symbol	Market Cap Oct 16 2023	Country
1	Eli Lilly	LLY	$578.3B	🇺🇸 U.S.
2	Novo Nordisk	NVO	$452.8B	🇩🇰 Denmark
3	Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	$377.7B	🇺🇸 U.S.
4	Merck	MRK	$263.9B	🇺🇸 U.S.
5	AbbVie	ABBV	$261.2B	🇺🇸 U.S.
6	Roche	ROG.SW	$222.4B	🇨🇭 Switzerland
7	AstraZeneca	AZN	$212.2B	🇬🇧 UK
8	Novartis	NVS	$201.1B	🇨🇭 Switzerland
9	Pfizer	PFE	$181.3B	🇺🇸 U.S.
10	Amgen	AMGN	$152.0B	🇺🇸 U.S.
11	Sanofi	SNY	$138.5B	🇫🇷 France
12	Bristol-Myers Squibb	BMY	$118.0B	🇺🇸 U.S.
13	Gilead Sciences	GILD	$96.8B	🇺🇸 U.S.
14	Vertex Pharmaceuticals	VRTX	$95.8B	🇺🇸 U.S.
15	CVS Health	CVS	$91.9B	🇺🇸 U.S.
16	Regeneron Pharmaceuticals	REGN	$91.1B	🇺🇸 U.S.
17	Zoetis	ZTS	$80.3B	🇺🇸 U.S.
18	GlaxoSmithKline	GSK	$76.6B	🇬🇧 UK
19	CSL	CSL.AX	$73.3B	🇦🇺 Australia
20	Merck KGaA	MRK.DE	$67.8B	🇩🇪 Germany
21	Daiichi Sankyō	4568.T	$51.7B	🇯🇵 Japan
22	Chugai Pharmaceutical	4519.T	$50.8B	🇯🇵 Japan
23	Takeda Pharmaceutical	TAK	$47.2B	🇯🇵 Japan
24	Bayer	BAYZF	$45.1B	🇩🇪 Germany
25	Seagen	SGEN	$40.2B	🇺🇸 U.S.
26	Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine	600276.SS	$38.6B	🇨🇳 China
27	Biogen	BIIB	$38.0B	🇺🇸 U.S.
28	Moderna	MRNA	$37.4B	🇺🇸 U.S.
29	WuXi AppTec	2359.HK	$36.0B	🇨🇳 China
30	Lonza	LONN.SW	$34.2B	🇨🇭 Switzerland
31	Sun Pharmaceutical	SUNPHARMA.NS	$32.8B	🇮🇳 India
32	Argenx	ARGX	$29.9B	🇳🇱 Netherlands
33	West Pharmaceutical	WST	$28.4B	🇺🇸 U.S.
34	WuXi Biologics	WXXWY	$26.7B	🇨🇳 China
35	Horizon Therapeutics	HZNP	$26.6B	🇮🇪 Ireland
36	BioNTech	BNTX	$24.8B	🇩🇪 Germany
37	Astellas Pharma	4503.T	$22.9B	🇯🇵 Japan
38	Genmab	GMAB	$21.1B	🇩🇰 Denmark
39	Alnylam Pharmaceuticals	ALNY	$21.0B	🇺🇸 U.S.
40	ICON plc	ICLR	$20.3B	🇮🇪 Ireland
41	Walgreens Boots Alliance	WBA	$20.1B	🇺🇸 U.S.
42	BeiGene	BGNE	$19.5B	🇨🇳 China
43	Otsuka Holdings	4578.T	$18.4B	🇯🇵 Japan
44	LabCorp	LH	$17.9B	🇺🇸 U.S.
45	Royalty Pharma	RPRX	$16.8B	🇬🇧 UK
46	BioMarin Pharmaceutical	BMRN	$16.2B	🇺🇸 U.S.
47	Baxter	BAX	$16.1B	🇺🇸 U.S.
48	UCB	UCB.VI	$16.0B	🇧🇪 Belgium
49	Eisai	4523.T	$15.9B	🇯🇵 Japan
50	Celltrion	068270.KS	$15.0B	🇰🇷 South Korea

Ranking in second is Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, with a $453 billion market cap.

The 100-year old company began by making insulin, a newly discovered drug in the 1920s. Like Eli Lilly, it recently launched a weight-loss drug, Ozempic, originally used to treat diabetes. As drug sales soared, the company briefly became the most valuable in Europe.

According to BMO, the weight-loss drug market will be worth $100 billion by 2035.

As a major drug exporter to the U.S., Japan is home to the largest pharma companies in Asia. In fact, it is the third-largest pharmaceutical market in the world. A number of large U.S. pharma companies including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Bristol Myers Squibb have subsidiaries in the country.

Of the top 50 pharma companies, U.S. drugmakers make up 56% of global market capitalization, followed by Europe at 34%, and Asia with a 10% market share.

Facing a Cliff

With scores of patents set to expire by 2030, big pharma companies could see a $200 billion loss in revenues due to fierce competition from generics.

As a result, the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies globally are at risk of losing 46% of revenues. Adding to this, the U.S. government announced they may remove patent protection if certain drugs are too expensive in efforts to clamp down on high drug prices.

This may come as a benefit to consumers, especially in America. With some of the highest prescription costs in the world, they are as much as three times more expensive than other countries, averaging $1,432 per person in 2021.

The median price for newly-launched drugs in the U.S. in 2022 was over $200,000 per year—up from $2,115 in 2008.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Markets

The World’s 50 Most Valuable Brands in 2025

American tech firms largely dominate the most valuable brands, but large Chinese competitors are quickly rising up the rankings.

Published

3 days ago

March 21, 2025

Dorothy Neufeld

Circle graphic showing the world's 50 most valuable brands in 2025.

The World’s Most Valuable Brands in 2025

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

Apple ranks first globally, with its brand valued at $574.5 billion in 2025.
Nvidia entered the top 10 for the first time, with its brand value jumping 98% over the year.
Both Starbucks and Tesla saw the steepest declines in their brand value across the top 50 rankings.

Brands are deeply embedded in a company, providing a powerful source of value.

The value of brands, together with other intangible assets such as intellectual property and research and development (R&D), stands at all-time highs of $80 trillion globally. While valuing these assets is subjective in nature, it’s clear they are playing a more dominant role in capital markets today.

This graphic shows the most valuable brands worldwide in 2025, based on the annual ranking from Brand Finance.

Methodology Behind the Most Valuable Brands

Brand Finance analyzed companies based on the degree that the brand generated profits for each company, including their subsidiaries. The key attributes that were examined include the brand’s strength, brand equity, and brand investment. Overall, 175,000 survey responses were collected globally as part of the analysis. For more details on the methodology, see the end of this article.

Ranked: The Top 50 Most Valuable Brands

Below, we show the most valuable brands in the world as of January 1, 2025:

Ranking 2025	Name	Country	Brand Value	Annual Change in Brand Value
1	Apple	🇺🇸 U.S.	$574.5B	11%
2	Microsoft	🇺🇸 U.S.	$461.1B	35%
3	Google	🇺🇸 U.S.	$413.0B	24%
4	Amazon	🇺🇸 U.S.	$356.4B	15%
5	Walmart	🇺🇸 U.S.	$137.2B	42%
6	Samsung Group	🇰🇷 South Korea	$110.6B	11%
7	TikTok/Douyin	🇨🇳 China	$105.8B	26%
8	Facebook	🇺🇸 U.S.	$91.5B	21%
9	NVIDIA	🇺🇸 U.S.	$87.9B	98%
10	State Grid Corporation of China	🇨🇳 China	$85.6B	20%
11	T	🇩🇪 Germany	$85.3B	16%
12	Instagram	🇺🇸 U.S.	$79.9B	13%
13	ICBC	🇨🇳 China	$79.1B	10%
14	China Construction Bank	🇨🇳 China	$78.4B	19%
15	Verizon	🇺🇸 U.S.	$72.3B	1%
16	Agricultural Bank of China	🇨🇳 China	$70.2B	16%
17	Home Depot	🇺🇸 U.S.	$65.1B	23%
18	Toyota	🇯🇵 Japan	$64.7B	23%
19	Bank of China	🇨🇳 China	$63.8B	26%
20	Moutai	🇨🇳 China	$58.4B	17%
21	Oracle	🇺🇸 U.S.	$57.4B	8%
22	UnitedHealthcare	🇺🇸 U.S.	$54.2B	14%
23	Mercedes-Benz	🇩🇪 Germany	$53.0B	-11%
24	AT&T	🇺🇸 U.S.	$52.5B	7%
25	Allianz Group	🇩🇪 Germany	$49.8B	6%
26	Costco	🇺🇸 U.S.	$48.2B	0%
27	China Mobile	🇨🇳 China	$47.0B	6%
28	Coca-Cola	🇺🇸 U.S.	$46.3B	32%
29	Hyundai Group	🇰🇷 South Korea	$46.3B	25%
30	Shell	🇬🇧 UK	$45.4B	-10%
31	Bank of America	🇺🇸 U.S.	$45.0B	21%
32	Disney	🇺🇸 U.S.	$44.8B	-4%
33	Chase	🇺🇸 U.S.	$44.2B	23%
34	Tencent	🇨🇳 China	$44.0B	22%
35	Ping An	🇨🇳 China	$43.2B	-3%
36	Tesla	🇺🇸 U.S.	$43.0B	-26%
37	BMW	🇩🇪 Germany	$42.5B	4%
38	Aramco	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	$41.7B	0%
39	Accenture	🇺🇸 U.S.	$41.5B	2%
40	Porsche	🇩🇪 Germany	$41.1B	-5%
41	Deloitte	🇺🇸 U.S.	$41.1B	-2%
42	McDonald's	🇺🇸 U.S.	$40.5B	7%
43	Mitsubishi Group	🇯🇵 Japan	$40.4B	14%
44	American Express	🇺🇸 U.S.	$39.6B	9%
45	Starbucks	🇺🇸 U.S.	$38.8B	-36%
46	Chanel	🇫🇷 France	$37.9B	45%
47	Uber	🇺🇸 U.S.	$37.2B	25%
48	NTT Group	🇯🇵 Japan	$37.1B	19%
49	Wells Fargo	🇺🇸 U.S.	$36.0B	1%
50	Citi	🇺🇸 U.S.	$35.7B	14%

Despite sluggish iPhone sales in 2024, Apple continues to dominate the rankings, adding $57.9 billion to its brand value over the year.

Overall, American tech giants secured four of the top five spots, likely driven by their ubiquity in everyday lives, from internet traffic and AI tools to online purchases and electronics. With multi-trillion dollar market caps, these companies have long commanded strong brand familiarity and strength, although they are being increasingly challenged by Chinese competitors such as TikTok (ranking in #7) and Temu.

Meanwhile, Nvidia entered the top 10 brands by value for the first time in 2025, driven by explosive demand for its AI chips and its significant moat in the semiconductor industry.

Nvidia is the World’s Fastest Rising Brand

Given the inertia surrounding AI technologies, Nvidia’s brand value has surged 98% to reach $87.9 billion, seeing the largest growth in value across the world’s 50 most valuable brands.

Name	Country	Brand Value in 2025	Annual Change in Brand Value
NVIDIA	🇺🇸 U.S.	$87.9B	98%
Chanel	🇫🇷 France	$37.9B	45%
Walmart	🇺🇸 U.S.	$137.2B	42%
Microsoft	🇺🇸 U.S.	$461.1B	35%
Coca-Cola	🇺🇸 U.S.	$46.3B	32%
Bank of China	🇨🇳 China	$63.8B	26%
TikTok/Douyin	🇨🇳 China	$105.8B	26%
Hyundai Group	🇰🇷 South Korea	$46.3B	25%
Uber	🇺🇸 U.S.	$37.2B	25%
Google	🇺🇸 U.S.	$413.0B	24%

With a 45% increase in brand value, Chanel follows next as its flagship Chanel N.5 perfume marked its 100th anniversary, creating more brand awareness for the company. This led Chanel to surpass Louis Vuitton as the most valuable luxury brand globally in 2025.

The Fastest Declining Brands

On the other hand, Starbucks and Tesla shaved the most off their brand value as these companies fell short of meeting customer expectations. For Starbucks, the company’s higher prices along with focusing on app-based sales has drawn pushback from customers.

Moreover, leadership turnover has hurt its reputation, with the company seeing four new CEOs in two years.

Name	Country	Brand Value in 2025	Annual Change in Brand Value
Starbucks	🇺🇸 U.S.	$38.8	-36%
Tesla	🇺🇸 U.S.	$43.0	-26%
Mercedes-Benz	🇩🇪 Germany	$53.0	-11%
Shell	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	$45.4	-10%
Porsche	🇩🇪 Germany	$41.1	-5%
Disney	🇺🇸 U.S.	$44.8	-4%
Ping An	🇨🇳 China	$43.2	-3%
Deloitte	🇺🇸 U.S.	$41.1	-2%
Costco	🇺🇸 U.S.	$48.2	0%
Aramco	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	$41.7	0%

Additionally, Tesla’s brand value sank for the second year in a row.

Notably, public perception of Elon Musk and declining reputation scores, especially in Europe, weighed on Tesla’s value. However, loyalty remained strong in the U.S., with 90% of Tesla owners saying they are likely to stick with the brand over the next year.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Brand Finance Global 500 Report

Important note: The values shown above are brand value calculations as opposed to market capitalization. See below for more details.

How is brand value calculated? Generally speaking, the methodology for calculating “brand value” is a formula that is as follows:

Brand Strength (BSI) x Brand Royalty Rate x Brand Revenues = Brand Value

Brand Strength Index (BSI) looks at brand investment, brand equity, and brand performance. The brand royalty rate is determined based on sector. Lastly, forecast brand-specific revenues are determined based on the proportion of parent company revenues attributable to the brand in question. Brand value itself is discounted to net present value.