Health products sector in Valle del Cauca

Last update: 30/09/2022

The health products sector in Colombia is divided into two subsectors: pharma and medical supplies. Most of the sales (86% of the national industry) originate in three territories in the country: Valle del Cauca and Cauca, Bogota and Cundinamarca and Atlantico. Valle del Cauca is positioned as the leader in sales -around USD $1.67 billion- contributing more than 37% of national sales. The region stands out as the headquarters of the main pharmaceutical company in the country: Tecnoquímicas; as well as the operations center of other multinationals such as Baxter, Sanofi, Calier, Fareva, Essity and Abbott.

On the other hand, sales of medical supplies in the country reached USD $209 million with an average annual growth of 8.7%, while sales of pharmaceuticals were USD $3,133 million with an average annual growth of 2.9%, where Valle del Cauca had a participation of 1.4% and 39.2% respectively. The products that sold the most in the pharmaceutical group were medicines for the digestive and metabolic system (USD $511 million) and medicines for veterinary use (USD $233 million); while in medical supplies it was venoclysis equipment and analogs (USD 49 million) together with plastic bags (sterilized) for medicine and surgery (USD 36 million).

In 2020, national exports of the sector reached USD $425 million, in which Valle del Cauca represented 25.5% (USD $108 million), being the second largest exporting region of health products. The main export destinations were Ecuador (26%), Peru (12%), Panama (10%) and the United States (6%). In addition, exports of pharma and medical supplies were USD $340 million (80%) and USD $85 million (20%), where Valle del Cauca had a participation in each of them of 23% and 37%, respectively.