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Global sales from exported drugs and medicines by country totaled US$371.3 billion in 2018.
Overall the value of drugs and medicine exports grew by an average 5.8% for all exporting countries since 2014 when drugs and medicines shipments were valued at $344.1 billion. Year over year, there was a 7.9% uptick from 2017 to 2018.
Among continents, European countries sold the highest dollar value worth of exported drugs and medicines during 2018 with shipments from Europe totaling $295.8 billion or 79.7% of the global total. In second place were Asian pharmaceutical exporters at 10.7% while 8.1% of worldwide drugs and medicine shipments originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from drugs and medicines suppliers in Latin America (0.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (0.5%) led by Australia and New Zealand, then Africa (0.2%).
The 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefixes for drugs and medicines are:
- 3003 for medicaments consisting of two or more constituents mixed together (4.3% of global total), and
- 3004 for medicaments consisting of mixed or unmixed products (95.7%).
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of drugs and medicines during 2018.
- Germany: US$62.3 billion (16.8% of total drugs and medicines exports)
- Switzerland: $45.3 billion (12.2%)
- Belgium: $27.8 billion (7.5%)
- France: $25.9 billion (7%)
- United States: $22 billion (5.9%)
- Ireland: $21.7 billion (5.8%)
- United Kingdom: $19.7 billion (5.3%)
- Italy: $19.6 billion (5.3%)
- Netherlands: $16.8 billion (4.5%)
- India: $13.1 billion (3.5%)
- Denmark: $13 billion (3.5%)
- Spain: $9 billion (2.4%)
- Canada: $6.8 billion (1.8%)
- Sweden: $6.7 billion (1.8%)
- Austria: $5.5 billion (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85% of all exported drugs and medicine for 2018.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of drugs and medicines since 2014 were: Denmark (up 293.4%), Switzerland (up 26.7%), India (up 22.5%) and Germany (up 20%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported drugs and medicines sales were led by: United Kingdom (down -18.1%), United States (down -14.3%), Italy (down -12.4%), Belgium (down -9.6%) and Austria (down -8.3%).
Related
Coronavirus Spurs U.S. Efforts to End China’s Chokehold on Drugs (NYTimes)
The World Medicines Situation (2004, 151 páges)