India’s pharma industry expands by 8% in ’22, driven primarily by price hikes

According to market research firm AWACS, the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) expanded by 8% annually to 1.8 lakh crore in 2022, primarily due to price rises even as volumes held steady. A low base and the large volume offtake of Covid-19 and associated drugs such anti-infectives, vitamins, and medications for gastrointestinal and respiratory issues, pain, and fever were the main drivers of the market’s 14.9% increase in 2021.

Sales of anti-infectives, including antibiotics and antifungals, fell by 5% in 2022 after increasing by 25% in 2021. Anti-infective sales volume decreased by 1%. With sales of $22,531 crore, “Anti-infectives” was the second-largest segment in 2022. Although volume growth was negative, the cardiac category, the largest therapy segment with a 13% market share, experienced an 8% gain to reach 23,561 crore in 2022.

The third-largest segment, gastrointestinal, experienced a 10% increase in sales, while volumes were unchanged. Anti-diabetes sales increased by 6% in value and 1% in volume. In 2022, both in terms of value and volume, the therapeutics segment—which includes products for respiratory, gynaecology, ophthalmology, urology, and sex stimulants—was an outlier.

The respiratory market continued to perform well, with volume growth of 12.4% and market growth of 19% both attributed to the worsening air quality that is aggravating respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. At 14,428 crore, the respiratory market was the sixth-largest pharmaceuticals category.