Turkish Pharmaceutical Industry Increases Exports by 27% in 2020

The Turkish pharmaceutical industry continued its investments despite the pandemic that began in 2020, demonstrating its production power and capacity. The Turkish pharmaceutical industry increased its exports by 27% in 2020 compared to the previous year. The Covid-19 pandemic affecting the entire world emphasized once again the importance of the domestic pharmaceutical sector. The established Turkish pharmaceutical industry demonstrated its mettle during this process, which began in March 2020 and continues to the present. Studies conducted from the outset of the pandemic period that revealed the sector's current strength and dynamic structure in solving various problems quickly also clearly demonstrated the technology, experience, knowledge base and expert workforce that the Turkish pharmaceutical industry possesses. In his assessment of the process, Savaş Malkoç, General Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Industry Employers' Association, stated:

"The Covid-19 pandemic reminded us once more of the vital importance of the domestic pharmaceutical industry and of Turkey being self-sufficient in pharmaceuticals. During this process, we faced significant challenges such as raw material procurement, logistics disruptions, rising costs, fluctuations in our sales, and the challenging conditions created by infection risk, yet we maintained uninterrupted operations in our production facilities.

At every stage, we acted with awareness of our social responsibility to our country. We pushed the conditions to their limits with all our strength, connections and accumulated expertise, and thereby ensured uninterrupted access to medicines for our people and healthcare workers. In addition to our current production, we rapidly began producing medicines included in the Covid-19 treatment protocol. Today, our industry meets 88 percent of our country's pharmaceutical needs through domestic production. This is a source of pride and satisfaction for us," he said. The Pharmaceutical Industry Employers' Association prepared a report on the sector data of the past year, as it does every year. According to the report, during the Covid-19 pandemic period, the pharmaceutical market declined by 7% in box volume to 2.2 billion boxes due to fewer physician and hospital visits and cessation of treatments other than emergency care.

The industry continued to increase its investments and production despite the challenging conditions of the period. The pharmaceutical industry, which has experienced a bright period in exports over the last three years, continued its momentum in 2020. The Turkish pharmaceutical industry exported to 177 countries in 2020, including the European Union, Commonwealth of Independent States, North Africa and Middle East countries.

Covid-19, a global health issue, underscored the importance of medicine and therefore the pharmaceutical industry for public health. According to a report prepared by the Pharmaceutical Industry Employers' Association, the Turkish pharmaceutical industry in 2020 continued to serve public health with 96 medicines produced to international standards, 11 active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facilities and 40,000 employees. Approximately three-quarters of the 680 companies making up Turkey's pharmaceutical and medical health products market are domestically capitalized firms.

Savaş Malkoç: "Turkish pharmaceutical industry's exports will exceed USD 2 billion in 2021"

In an assessment of 2020 export figures, Savaş Malkoç, General Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Industry Employers' Association, stated: "Our pharmaceutical export growth is occurring above Turkey's average. In 2019, our exports grew by 10% compared to the previous year, reaching a level of over USD 1.4 billion. At the end of 2020, our exports reached USD 1.84 billion with a 27.3% increase. With this growth in our exports, we exceeded 1% of Turkey's total exports for the first time in 2020. This momentum in exports of the high-value-added, R&D-intensive pharmaceutical industry also brought the ratio of exports covering imports to its highest historical level. When examining pharmaceutical raw material imports and pharmaceutical finished product exports, the contribution of the pharmaceutical industry to the country's economy becomes clearer. In 2020, while USD 815 million in raw materials were imported, USD 1.79 billion in exports were realized. The balance in favor of exports in this sector is growing larger each day. When domestic production capabilities are utilized to meet the need for finished pharmaceutical products in drug imports, our industry will increase its exports and contribution to reducing the foreign trade deficit. For this, the localization policy in pharmaceuticals must be restarted from where it left off and, in particular, legislation and support mechanisms that will revitalize biopharmaceutical production must be put into effect. Despite the adverse conditions created by the pandemic in 2021, we foresee our exports will grow by over 10% and exceed USD 2 billion," he said.

Covid-19 concerns drove immunity-boosting medicines and supplements to peak in 2020

2020 witnessed growth in the health products market. The market consisting of Ministry of Health-approved traditional herbal medicinal products, biocidal products, certain medical devices in pharmaceutical form, cosmetic and dermocosmetic products, and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry-approved vitamins and food supplements, which are also part of pharmaceutical companies' portfolios, reached record production and sales figures in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During the Covid-19 pandemic period, reduced access to physicians and hospitals and the circulation of information on strengthening immunity through many communication channels had a major impact on market growth. As a result of these effects in 2020, the health products market, consisting of over 70% vitamin and food supplement products, grew by 34.3% in boxes to 80 million boxes and by 56.6% in value to TRY 2.87 billion. In 2020, imported products in the health products market reached TRY 1.8 billion with 44.8% growth in value and 37.3 million boxes with 25.2% growth in boxes. When examining manufactured products, there was a 80.2% increase in value to TRY 1.1 billion and 43.5% growth in boxes to 42.5 million boxes, and for the first time surpassed the imported product market. In 2021, continued growth in the market is expected as a result of ongoing interest in immunity-boosting medicines and supplements.