Global pharma has economic footprint equivalent to that of Argentina, says IFPMA report

The global pharma industry has a total economic footprint of $437 billion in terms of gross value added, according to a report from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations.

The study, commissioned by the IFPMA and independently conducted by WifOR, a spin-out of the Chair of Public Economics and Economic Policy at the Darmstadt University of Technology, assessed the impact of the pharma industry on boosting the global economy. It found that the industry yields positive social consequences prompted by its global labor force, employing as much as the entire workforce of Belgium across all sectors. Pharma hires more than 3 million people in Asia, 750,000 in Europe and 270,000 in North America. The global economic power of the sector roughly corresponds to the economic performance of Argentina.

Dennis Ostwald, chief executive of WifOR, the main contributor and editor of the study, said: “With the present study it is possible to discuss the economic footprint of the pharmaceutical industry for the first time on a continental level. This highlights a shifting perspective of pharma from a cost factor to a driver of growth, employment, health and last but not least wealth. Tourism and aviation together with pharma are three major industries that had carried out innovative studies that focus on calculating the economic footprint associated with their products. These calculations of the pharmaceutical industry as part of the industrialized health economy represent the beginning of profound insights into the world economy.”