Latin America’s Pharmaceutical Market Growing by 9% a Year

GHI Analysis — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 22:22:25 +0000

In other recent stories we have forecast that 2018 will feature strong growth in Latin America’s healthcare market, particularly when it comes to medical equipment and device sales in Latin America. However, one key growth area we haven’t explored as much is the Latin American pharmaceutical market.

And the current indicators suggest the LatAm pharma market is expanding significantly. According to recent projections, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the Latin American pharmaceuticals market for the first half of the forecast period — between 2018 and 2028 — is projected to be 9.3%. Similarly, the over-the-counter pharmaceuticals market in Latin America is also showing strong growth, with a projected CAGR of 8.64% between 2016 and 2022.

Growth in Key LatAm Markets

In Latin America, the pharmaceutical industry is notoriously hard to project, as the same data points are not available as they are in nations like the United States. But nevertheless, all the signs point to a strong market and bullish growth, particularly in key areas such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. Since those are the areas with the strongest data available, let’s take a closer look at the numbers for these key regions.

Brazil

Brazil is not only one of the biggest pharmaceutical markets in Latin America, but the entire world. Recent growth projections have led them to become a major player on the world stage in the last few years.

Brazil’s pharmaceutical business is now sixth in the world and is projected to be in the top 5 by 2021.
As a pharmaceutical market, Brazil tops the UK, Italy, Canada and Spain and is projected to pass France before long.
Overall, the Brazilian pharmaceutical market is projected to grow between 7 and 9.3% in 2018.
Several companies identify Brazil as one of the most promising pharmaceutical markets in the world.
One major projection forecasts the overall Brazilian pharma market to grow from $25.3 billion in 2016 to $29.9 billion in 2021.

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Argentina

While much of Brazil’s economy has been surging in recent years, Argentina has been in recovery mode, and the pharmaceutical industry is no different in this regard.

According to recent forecasts, Argentina’s pharmaceutical industry should see a 1% gain in sales in 2018.
Exports from the Argentine pharma market are forecast to be up 7%.
Pharmaceutical market turnover for Argentina is projected to be up 20% over 2017.
Prescriptions are also on the upswing in Argentina, with a 27% projected increase for 2018.
Overall, there is a rising demand for qualified workers in research, development, microbiology, quality control and research in the pharmaceutical industry.

Mexico

Much like Brazil, Mexico is a major pharmaceutical player not only in Latin America, but the entire world. Many projections point to the country making big gains in the years ahead.

One projection, from the 2017 Business Summit, projected Mexico’s pharmaceutical industry to grow from $17 billion to over $20 billion by 2020.
Mexico is currently the 11^th largest pharmaceutical market in the world.
Generic drugs are a major part of Mexico’s pharmaceutical industry, representing 9 out of every 10 drug sales.
Generic drug sales in Mexico have grown 11% each year over the last 5 years.

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Colombia

Though not as large overall as some of the other LatAm markets, Colombia is unique in that it has big-time growth potential in upcoming years. Its growth is projected to be near the top for all Latin American nations.

Overall, the Colombian pharmaceutical sector is projected to grow 25% between 2017 and 2019.
Prescription medications are a major contributor to this number, at 83% of the total market.
Overall, the Colombian pharmaceutical sector is valued at $4.9 billion in 2018.
The industry is responsible for the development of 25,000 jobs in the country.