OBJECTIVES: In September 2006, the National Statistical Service of Greece revised the system of National Accounts. In this framework, significant increases took place in the data describing the pharmaceutical market, the overall picture of which has completely changed. The study aims to present these changes, as well as highlight some remarkable (or even questionable) characteristics of the revision. METHODS: Data from official sources relating to pharmaceuticals' production, external trade, expenditure and sales were collected and analyzed, in an effort to synthesize the overall picture of the pharmaceutical market and provide a comparative instrument for the revised data. RESULTS: Under the new data, the pharmaceutical market bears two significant changes: a) private pharmaceutical expenditure accounts for 47.5% of total expenditure –against 22% which was the case before the revision, and b) data on the demand side appear to exceed supply-side data –the latter including parallel exports. The disproportional rise in pharmaceutical expenditure (58% on average for the years 2000-2005) led to an increase in pharmaceuticals' share to both health care expenditure and GDP. Moreover, the increase was totally attributable to a shift in private pharmaceutical expenditure –which was tripled- whereas public expenditure remained at the before-the-revision levels. However, such an increase contravenes both the fact that pharmaceuticals in Greece are mainly reimbursed by Social Insurance and the fact that the pharmaceutical market is heavily regulated and -in general- “hidden economy” phenomena do not exist. Furthermore, the increase is not supported by the results of the 2005 Household Budget Survey. CONCLUSION: The revised data raise questions on the relationship of public-private pharmaceutical expenditure and supply-demand market data, and entail the risk of leading to irrational decision making for both policy makers and pharmaceutical companies.