Pakistan’s pharma sector export growth hits two-decade high

KARACHI: Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports growth hit a two-decade high of 34% in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, securing the fifth position among the fastest-growing export categories in the country with sales of the locally produced medicines rising to $457 million in overseas markets in FY25.

Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) reported that the pharma exports had stood at $341 million in the prior year of FY24.

The surge of 34% is the highest visible growth of pharma exports during the past two decades. The previous best was recorded at 32% in 2009, according to the association.

On the other hand, the export of therapeutic goods - including pharmaceuticals, surgicals, food supplements, medical devices and nutraceuticals - registered at $909 million in FY25, just $91 million shy away from a $1 billion threshold.

While talking to Business Recorder, PPMA chairman Tauqeer Ul Haq said the pharma exports recorded the historical growth of 34% in FY25 in the aftermath of “good (pricing) policy” given by the government, recalling that deregulation of non-essential medicines in February 2024 enabled pharmaceutical firms to focus on exports.

He maintained that the deregulation policy was in line with international practices. This allowed pharma firms to adjust inflation in their medicine prices, make new investments to expand production lines, increase access to medicines to the required higher level, and it also ended the sale of the products at exorbitantly higher prices in black-markets in the country.

Besides, the deregulation policy allowed foreign pharma firms to prolong their stay in the country instead of considering quitting the market. Therefore, they invested more to expand and come up with new ideas, he added.

“Further investment to be made by the phamra firms, including the foreign ones, would help producing vaccines locally and manufacture medicines’ raw material (APIs/active pharmaceutical ingredients) in Pakistan,” he said, adding this would help reduce import bills, create import substitution, and increase self-reliance in the sector.

While speaking at the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, the other day, Syed Hassan Arsalan, an export representative from The Searle, said Afghanistan remains the top export destination for made in Pakistan medicines, followed by the Philippines. Besides, they are exporting to Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and French West Africa.

“Then, a growing market for Pakistan is Iraq. Iraq is giving us a very good response. Then, of course, moving towards Africa, Kenya is also a potential export market for Pakistan. We also have Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand.”

Nadeem Rahmat from PharmaEvo said the size of the global pharma market is anticipated to surge to $1.5 trillion by 2030. Besides, there is generic export worth $600 billion - a potential export market for Pakistan, according to Rahmat.

In a commentary, Muryum Palekar, an analyst at Optimus Capital Management said Pakistan currently exports to less regulated markets in Asia and Africa. At present, exports contribute around 5-7% to revenue for most of the

country’s pharma companies, she added.

“With countries like India and China, major pharmaceutical exporters, shifting their focus towards R&D [research and development], there exists significant potential for Pakistan to tap into the generics market, which is in high demand in low and middle-income countries with substantial disease burdens,” Palekar said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025