Pharma market value in Latin America 2023, by country

In 2023, Brazil was by far the Latin American country with the highest pharmaceutical market value, amounting to around 37.3 billion U.S. dollars. Mexico ranked second, with a pharma market value of approximately 12.9 billion U.S. dollars. As a whole, Latin America accounted for about 4.2 percent of the global 2023 pharmaceutical market revenue.

An industry driven by imports

Brazil produced more than 52 billion Brazilian reals worth of pharmaceutical products in 2020. Despite its significant role in the national economy, the pharmaceutical industry in this South American country relies mostly on imports. In 2021, Brazil had pharmaceutical imports for about 11 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. Meanwhile, Brazil’s pharma exports have declined from 1.57 billion U.S. dollars in 2014 to 1.24 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. 

ACHE Laboratorios – a national market leader

Despite U.S companies such as Pfizer leading the global pharmaceutical industry, in Brazil Aché Laboratorios Farmacéuticos S.A. - a prominent 100-percent Brazilian pharmaceutical corporation – ranks first in the segment, with a revenue of over four billion Brazilian reals in 2021. Focusing mostly on the production and sales of prescription drugs, the company invested more than 81.5 billion reals in research, development, and innovation in 2018.