New Delhi : Exports of pharmaceuticals have once again reported a decline in the month of January, 2022 in comparison with the corresponding period of previous fiscal year. The cumulative exports for the 10 months from April, 2021, however, touched the $20 billion figure and showed a marginal growth, as against the same period of last year, according to the data released by the ministry of commerce and industry.
For the month of January, exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals declined 1.15 per cent to $2.05 billion as compared to $2.08 billion registered in the same month of 2021. Exports for the ten months ended January, 2022, has grown 0.44 per cent to $20.24 billion as compared to $20.15 billion reported in the same period of last fiscal year.
The decrease in exports comes after the sector turned back to growth in December, 2021, with a growth of 5.2 per cent to $2.32 billion as compared to $2.2 billion in the same month of previous year.
The three consecutive months before that has reported a decline in exports, owing to various trends including multifold increase in freight rates and a decline in exports to the US, among others. Exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals have registered a decline in the three consecutive months from September, October and November, with exports declining 8.45 per cent, 0.88 per cent and 7.03 per cent respectively, compared to the corresponding months of the previous year.
Following the decline in sales, the industry experts have said that it may miss the target of $29 billion set by the government earlier. They said that an achievable target could be a growth similar to last year, to around $26 billion, given the current trend. The year 2020-21 saw an exceptional growth of 18.19 per cent in exports, to $24.4 billion, which is the level of growth that happened after eight years.
Imports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products registered a 27.35 per cent growth in January, 2022, to $700.85 million, as compared to $550.32 million during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. The ten months growth of imports in the sector is 31.29 per cent to $7.61 billion as against an imports of $5.8 billion during the April 2020 to January 2021 period, according to the quick estimates for major commodities for the month of January, 2022, released by the ministry of commerce and industry.
Pharmaceutical exports have registered growth in the last few years, following a 2.92 per cent growth it registered for the year 2017-18, at $17.28 billion. The year 2018-19 has seen a growth of 10.72 per cent to $19.13 billion compared to the previous year, 2019-20 with a growth of 7.57 per cent to $20.58 billion, before hitting an eight year high or 18.19 per cent growth to $24.47 billion in the year 2020-21.
