Wondering which are the 10 countries that export the most drugs in the world? Let’s check them out!
Drugs have played an important role in the development of humanity, perhaps much more important than most people are aware of, or are willing to admit. In general terms, a drug is any substance that will cause a physiological change in the body when consumed, inhaled, injected or absorbed by the body by any possible mean, which makes them a very useful tool for medicinal purposes. In fact, most of the today’s modern medicine is based on drug therapy, as one of its main practices; and pharmaceutical expenditure takes part of a large portion of our monthly expenses.
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According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the US tops the list for having the highest pharmaceutical expenditure per capita, followed by Japan, Greece, and Canada.
But, of course, drug consumption doesn’t end at the hospital’s doorstep. Drugs are part of our everyday life, and their effects often help us in our daily routines, as are the cases of coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, or any other grocery shop item that contains substances that can alter our bodies and, in many cases, our minds.
That leads us to the third most common use of drugs, aside from medicinal and daily: recreational. The recreational use of drugs has been around us since the first civilizations discovered that plants and herbs could have an altering effect on our consciousness. As of today, most recreational drugs are prohibited by law in many countries, so, even though illegal drug production and export are part of a multimillion dollar industry, the fact that it runs in a black market makes it impossible to measure beyond estimation. That’s why we’re focusing this article on the legal drug export intended for medicinal use, since coffee, alcohol, and tobacco production are considered to be among other industries than the pharmaceutical industry.
The manufacturing and exporting of pharmaceutical products is a very complex process that is subject to many laws and regulations, thus limiting its mass production to certain countries, as it’s the case with many industries, including the car producing industry, as you can see in our previous article on the 10 countries that export the most cars in the world.
Since pharmaceutical products vary a lot in size, weight, and potency, according to its compounds, we chose to make our list based on each country’s yearly exported value Data was gathered from the Trade Map provided by the International Trade Centre, an international institute that grants information on trade values for most worldwide marketed products.
Eager to see which country tops the list? Keep reading to find out!
10. India
Exported Value in 2015: 12,544,722 USD
2,52% of total world exports.
India’s pharmaceutical industry is led by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. Over 37% of its total exported products are shipped to the US.
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9. Italy
Exported Value in 2015: 21,968,857 USD
4,4% of total world exports.
The greatest part of Italy’s pharmaceutical exports remains in Europe, with its leading importers being Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.
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8 Netherlands
Exported Value in 2015: 28,255,084 USD
5,7% of total world exports.
The UK leads as an importer of Dutch pharmaceutical products, receiving 15% of their total exports.
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7. France
Exported Value in 2015: 29,862,493 USD
6% of total world exports.
The UK is also the leading importer of French pharmaceutical products, followed by Belgium and the US.
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6. Ireland
Exported Value in 2015: 31,783,469 USD
6,3% of total world exports.
Lead by Allegran Inc., the Irish pharmaceutical industry has Belgium and the US as lead importers with 22,3% and 21,1% of total Ireland’s exports, respectively.
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5. United Kingdom
Exported Value in 2015: 35,939,590 USD
7,2% of total world exports.
The UK’s market is led by GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. Over 33% of total exported products are shipped to the US.
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4. Belgium
Exported Value in 2015: 43,192,153 USD
8,6% of total world exports.
Belgium is the smallest country on our list, but don’t be fooled by its size, since it ranks fourth on our list of the 10 countries that export the most drugs in the world. 19% of total Belgium drug exports goes to the US.
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3. The United States of America
Exported Value in 2015: 47,303,358 USD
9,5% of total world exports.
Most of the American pharmaceutical production meant for export is shipped to Europe, with the exceptions of Canada and Japan, receiving 8% and 7,5% respectively. Pfizer, which was founded in the US, is one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
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2. Switzerland
Exported Value in 2015: 60,596,101 USD
12,1% of total world exports.
Switzerland has a known history as a drug manufacturer and is home to some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies including Novartis International and Hoffmann-La Roche. Again, the United States tops as an export destination, receiving 20% of total Swiss exports.
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1. Germany
Exported Value in 2015: 76,508,038 USD
15,3% of total world exports.
Both Boehringer Ingelheim and Bayer were founded and are headquartered in Germany, along with many other pharmaceutical giants.
It comes as no surprise that the US tops again as leading importer, receiving over 19% of total exports from Germany, followed by the Netherlands with 12%, and the UK with 10%. Germany’s reputation for quality drugs and drug related products helped its industry grow to be the largest world exporter of pharmaceutical products and the first on our list of the 10 countries that export the most drugs in the world.
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