The Gulf countries invested a total of US$ 793,2 million in pharmaceutical industry and has 55 factories producing medicines in 2004 as against US$ 174,4 million with 18 factories operational in 1995.
A report published recently by the Gulf Organisation for Industry Consulting noted that Saudi Arabia was leading the AGCC countries in terms of the number of pharmaceutical factories (27) and the volume of investment in the industry (US$ 619 million), followed by UAE which has 8 factories and invested US $ 64,2 million and then Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
According to ONA, the report indicated that the rate of per capita consumption of pharmaceuticals in the Gulf states stood at US$ 52 and in Arab countries at US$ 20,3, adding that the over all consumption in the Arab countries, including the AGCC states constituted 1.5% of the world annual consumption.
Figures released by the Arab Organisation for Industrial Development and Mining indicated that Arab production of pharmaceuticals covers 45% of the Arab world demand with a cost of estimated at US$ 5.5 billion annually and that the value of investment in manufacturing pharmaceuticals in the Arab world reached US$ 4 billion.
