With the recent development, Sri Lanka’s aim of developing a pharma industry should be to penetrate the global market since the internal market is not sufficient for any big firm to operate at optimum levels. According to a report published by Indian Council on International Relations in Dec. ‘14, the global market of pharma is about $1trillion, and India’s export of pharma products in 2013 amounted to $13bn, where as Sri Lanka was nil. Hence, pharma industry offers a very valuable opportunity for Sri Lanka to diversify its manufacturing and export base and thereby reach the goal of upper middle income country by 2020 and a rich country by 2035.

Sri Lanka’s free healthcare policy practiced by successive governments ensures that this arena continues to be dominated by the government sector. Meanwhile, the relatively smaller public counterpart, i.e. the private sector has increasingly contributed towards serving the healthcare needs of the country. Sri Lanka’s total expenditure on health has increased by ~11%, CAGR (2005-2010), and this has been driven by both private- (+12%) and government-sector (+10%) spending. Notwithstanding the state sector’s dominance, private sector expenditure on health has continued to rise, contributing an estimated 55% to total expenditure.

In this report, we highlight the economy, demography, past and emerging trend of pharma industry, and availability of basic resources. This report also provides current disease prevalence and incidence along with the country’s healthcare system and also discuss about future market opportunities.

Furthermore, the report explains current medical supply and product accessibility in Govt. and Private sectors along with physicians prescribing pattern and price control. Local manufacturing and role of Govt. support to local manufacturers, regulatory and insurance framework are also discussed in this report.