Pharma imports decline 2.84% in August

New Delhi, September 24, 2022:

The imports of pharmaceutical products during the month of August have reported a decline of around three per cent to $638.23 million, as compared to $656.88 million during the same period of previous year. The imports for the five months from April to August declined 17.35 per cent, as compared to the previous year, according to quick estimates from the ministry of commerce and industry.

As reported earlier, the exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals during the month of August, 2022 has registered a growth of 6.67 per cent as compared to the corresponding month of last year, according to the quick estimates released by the ministry of commerce and industry. The growth comes against a slight decline of around one per cent reported in the month of July, 2022.

During the five month ended August, the imports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products was at $3.47 billion, as compared to $4.2 billion in the same period of previous year.

The sector has reported an export of $2.14 billion as compared to the $2 billion exports registered in August, 2021.

The exports during the first five months of the current fiscal year, till August, 2022, crossed $10.52 billion, as compared to the $9.94 billion exports registered during the corresponding period of last year. The growth during the five months was around 5.83 per cent.

It may be noted that the exports have seen an 8.05 per cent growth during the first quarter of the fiscal year, from April to June, 2022, following the trend of growth reported in the Latin American and ASEAN countries market in the previous year.

Analytics major CRISIL in a report released in the second half of August has said that a sluggish export sales in the regulated markets and high-base effect in the domestic formulations business is expected to impact the pharma industry which could register a moderate revenue growth of 7-9 per cent in the current fiscal year.

The exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals during the fiscal year 2021-22 witnessed a growth of 0.66 per cent at $24.6 billion as compared to $24.44 billion during the previous fiscal year. The growth was achieved despite several issues the global industry faced during the year, said industry experts.

Pharma exports witnessed a growth of 103 per cent since 2013-14, from Rs. 90, 415 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 1,83,422 crore in 2021-22. The export achieved in 2021-22 is the pharma sector’ best export performance ever, claimed the ministry of commerce recently. The exports grew by almost $ 10 billion in eight years.

Around 55 per cent of its pharma exports cater to highly regulated markets. Indian pharma companies have a substantial share in the prescription market in the US and EU. The largest number of US Food and Drug Administration approved plants outside the US is in India, it added. 

In the year 2020-21, Indian drugs and pharmaceuticals had registered a sharp growth amid the Covid-19 despair, achieving an export of $24.4 billion with a YoY growth of 18%. Pharmabiz