Overview

Mauritius is dependent to a large extent on importation of pharmaceutical products for supply to both public and private healthcare institutions.

As of April 2022, there were 394 registered private drugstores, and 48 registered pharmaceutical wholesalers in Mauritius.  Pharmaceutical products can only be imported by wholesalers licensed by the Pharmacy Board, which operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life.   The government purchases mostly generic medications throu private hospitals and drug stores tend to buy branded products through local wholesalers.  As of 2021, India remained the main supplier of pharmaceuticals to Mauritius, with 58 percent of the market, followed by France (9 percent), Germany (6 percent), United States (4 percent), United Kingdom (3 percent) and South Africa (3 percent).   There are currently no pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Mauritius.

(Total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports)
Units: $ thousands

Data Source: i) Statistics Mauritius, ii) Economic Development Board, iii) Embassy Estimates for 2021

Leading Sub-Sectors

The main categories of pharmaceutical products imported into Mauritius:

• Non-antibiotic medicines
• Vaccines (human and veterinarian)
• Antibiotics
• Anti-infective, antiretroviral, and antihypertensive drugs
• Cardiovascular drugs
• Cytotoxic drugs
• Antidiabetics
• Renal drugs
• Opioids, antituberculosis, ophthalmic, dermatological and NICU drugs

Opportunities

Since Mauritius imports most of its pharmaceuticals, there are opportunities for U.S. products to increase their share of the market.  Private pharmaceutical wholesalers represent the best export opportunities since they import about 75 percent of the total pharmaceutical products in Mauritius.  Government procurement tends to favor generic medicines.  Some private clinics occasionally do their own procurement.

U.S. companies could also consider manufacturing pharmaceuticals in Mauritius for the African market.  As a member of SADC and COMESA, exports from Mauritius to members of these organizations benefit from duty-free access, provided the rules of origin are met.  The government offers a tax holiday of eight years, three percent corporate tax on profits derived from exports, investment tax credit for investment in hi-tech manufacturing, and air- and sea-freight rebates on exports for new companies involved in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.

In 2021, the Mauritian government announced that it would be setting up the Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) to promote local vaccine manufacturing.   Subsequently, in June 2021, the Economic Development Board (EDB) launched an invitation for local and international companies with relevant field experience to express their interests in implementing pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing projects in Mauritius.  In the 2022-2023 budget, the government announced that the mandate of MIB will be broadened to include the production of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, technology-based applications for pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and research and development centers for testing.

In the 2022-2023 budget, the government also announced the introduction of a new law on medical and healthcare products to facilitate the setting up of pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, to set out the legal framework for the development of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and health supplements industry, and to ensure compliance with good manufacturing and distribution practice standards for products manufactured in Mauritius.  The budget also provided for a framework for the setting up of healthcare university spin-offs to promote research and development of new healthcare products.