New Delhi : The Indian pharmaceutical sector reported single-digit growth in August for the fourth consecutive month due to a high base and challenges in volume growth.
Industry sales were up 5.1% in comparison with 12.1% over the same period last year, according to data from All Indian Origin Chemists and Distributors Ltd. Sales had risen 5.3% in July, 6% in June, and 5.6% in May.
The mid-single-digit performance is partly due to robust growth in August 2022 and challenges in volume growth, which has been “negative since the past five months”, said Krishnanath Munde, associate director at India Ratings and Research Pvt.
Growth in new product launches has shown consistent improvement in recent months, with price growth being stable at around 5–6%, Munde told BQ Prime. “India Ratings maintains its Indian pharma market growth estimates for FY24 at 10–11% year-on-year.”
Key Highlights
- Volume declined 3.3% versus a 4% rise last year.
- Prices increased 5.1% year-on-year as compared with 6.6% last year.
- New product launches registered a growth of 3.3% against a rise of 1.5% over the previous year.
On a January–August basis, growth in the average price and new products was 5.5% and 3.2%, respectively, while volume growth contracted 1.6%.
Overall, the average Indian pharma market growth remained healthy at 7.1% year-on-year, according to Munde.
