Pakistan's pharmaceutical exports fell again in the first quarter of 2026-27, with export proceeds down 25.53 per cent to $73.301 million compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data. The industry largely links the continued slide to disrupted trade with Afghanistan, once one of the country's main medicine markets. The decline follows a 30.26 per cent contraction in fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26).
Export figures for FY26 and early FY27
The same data showed pharmaceutical exports dropped from $457.456 million in FY25 to $319.012 million in FY26, a fall of $138.444 million. Export volumes also declined 26.14 per cent, to 83,104 tonnes from 112,517 tonnes. The slide continued into the first quarter of FY27, when volumes fell 31.40 per cent, from 23,924 tonnes to 16,410 tonnes. Quantity fell faster than value in both periods.
Average export value per tonne moved in different directions. It rose about 8.6 per cent in the first quarter, from around $4,115 to $4,469 a tonne, but fell 5.6 per cent across FY26. The statistics reflect changes in the mix of products sent abroad, not necessarily changes in medicine prices. Surgical goods and medical instruments, which are outside these pharmaceutical figures, rose 8.8 per cent to $121 million in the first quarter of FY27 and stayed at $451.527 million for FY26.
Why Afghanistan matters to the sector
Afghanistan was once a major buyer of Pakistani medicines. Data on the Pakistan Pharma Portal, run by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and sourced from PRAL, a government data body, showed exports of $155.68 million to Afghanistan in FY25. That was about 34.1 per cent of the country's total pharmaceutical exports that year.
Tauqeer ul Haq, a former chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), said the suspension of trade with Afghanistan had caused heavy losses for drug companies and the national exchequer, the government's treasury. He added that Afghan patients were also suffering because they had to turn to more expensive medicines. He said the PPMA had raised the issue with the government, and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal had promised to discuss it with the relevant authorities and look for ways to restart medicine exports. Haq said there had been little serious follow-up since then.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- FY25: Export proceeds total $457.456 million, and $155.68 million of medicines go to Afghanistan, about 34.1 per cent of the total.
- FY26: Proceeds fall 30.26 per cent to $319.012 million, and volumes drop 26.14 per cent.
- First quarter of FY27: Proceeds fall 25.53 per cent to $73.301 million, and volumes fall 31.40 per cent to 16,410 tonnes.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan ki dawaiyon ki bairooni farokht 2026-27 ki pehli teen mahinon mein 25.53 fisad kam ho gayi hai. Industry ka kehna hai ke iski bari wajah Afghanistan ke saath tijarat ka ruk jana hai, jo kabhi dawaiyon ki bari market thi. Is ka seedha asar bazar mein dawaiyon ki qeemat par nahi dikhaya gaya, lekin companies aur sarkari khazane ko nuqsan ka zikr hai. Aam logon ke liye abhi yeh wazeh nahi ke sarhad par tijarat kab bahal hogi.
