Double-digit spend to catapult domestic pharma growth in the next 5 years

Domestic pharma industry contributes to over 4 per cent to the gross domestic product, against the global average of 9 per cent. This makes India a country with one of the lowest medicine spends. However, spend on medicines is projected to grow by 9-12% in the next five years compared to China’s 5-8%, which will thrust India forward to reach the list of top 10 countries. 

There are close to half a million people directly, and over a million people indirectly, employed in the domestic pharmaceutical industry. This makes India the second highest skilled biotech workforce in the world after China. India’s pharma export in FY18 was over $16 billion. Most of the sales came from the US and European markets, followed by Asian nations. Indian pharma firms contribute to over 20% of global generic business. But due to pricing pressures from governments, the domestic pharma market, which makes up of 10% of global sales, account for only 3% in value terms.