Medicines: 21% drop in Algeria import bill in H1 2013

Algeria’s imports of pharmaceutical products reached $ 923.44 million during the first half of 2013, against $ 1.18 billion in the same period in 2012, 21.76% down, Customs sources announced. The quantities of medicines imported rose by over 28% from 16,608 tonnes in the first half of 2012 to 21,353 tonnes for the same period in 2013, according to figures provided by the National Centre for Data Processing and statistics (CNIS) of the Customs, copied to APS. The decline in drug bill, after rising more than 13% in 2012, is mainly due to the decline of more than 21.5% of human drugs, which represent 95.5% of total imports of medicines of Algeria. Despite this decline, the bill for medicines for human use remains the largest with $ 882, 37 million, against $ 1.12 billion in the same period in 2012, 21.5% down, according to the CNIS. As for the imported quantities, they increased by more than 30% from 15,617 tons in the first half of 2012 to 20,376 tons in the same period of 2013. The pharmaceutical products, which represent only 2.7% of total imports, also contributed to the decline in total imports bill, falling by more than 36.8%. Indeed, pharmaceutical products come in second position with $ 25.78 million, against $ 40.84 million, down 36.8%, CNIS added.