Key Takeaways
- Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports fell sharply in FY26 and continued to decline in Q1FY27.
- Export earnings dropped by USD138.444 million from FY25 to FY26.
- Afghanistan, once a major market, saw a 34.1% share of total pharmaceutical exports in FY25.
Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports have experienced a significant decline, with export earnings falling by USD138.444 million from FY25 to FY26, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In the first quarter of FY27, export earnings further decreased by USD25.127 million, or 25.53 percent, compared to the same period in FY26.
The quantity exported also dropped, with a 26.14 percent decrease in export volumes from 112,517 tonnes to 83,104 tonnes, a reduction of 29,413 tonnes.
Dr Kaiser Waheed, former chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA), stated that pharmaceutical production had declined by around 1 percent, with the disruption of trade with Afghanistan being a major factor.
Afghanistan, which was a significant market for Pakistani medicines, accounted for approximately 34.1 percent of total pharmaceutical exports in FY25, amounting to USD155.68 million.
The decline in exports has been more pronounced in terms of quantity than in earnings, with the average declared export value per tonne rising by about 8.6 percent in the first quarter of FY27.
While exports of surgical goods and medical instruments increased by 8.8 percent to USD121 million in Q1FY27, annual exports remained unchanged at USD451.527 million in FY26.
Dr Waheed noted that Pakistan exported around USD120 million worth of pharmaceutical products to Afghanistan annually through formal trade channels, with consignments transported by trucks and cleared through customs.
Pharmaceutical production had declined by around 1 percent, according to PBS data, while disruption of trade with Afghanistan was a major factor affecting pharmaceutical exports.
Dr Kaiser Waheed, Former chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA)
