Market Segmentation

Based on Mode of Transport (Route):

Air
Road
Sea
Of these three, Roads attained the largest share in the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market during 2023-28. It owes to the increased local production of pharmaceutical products in countries like the UAE & Saudi Arabia to attract local & international companies to meet the needs of the domestic market. Besides, in GCC countries, almost all places are easily accessible via road. As a result, the demand for pharmaceutical logistics by road across the neighboring countries like Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, & Bahrain has propelled significantly in recent years.

In 2018, Al-Mas International Pharmaceutical Industry signed a contract with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) to establish one of the largest BCG vaccine production plants. The plant produces BCG vaccines in the Middle East, localizing Saudi's pharma supply chain.
Based on Storage Type:

Refrigerated
Ultra-frozen (Less than 0?C)
Chilled (1?C - 10?C)
Air-conditioned (Above 11?C)
Ambient
Here, the demand for Refrigerated storage is projected to witness the highest growth in the market during 2023-28. It owes to the rising focus on bio-based products where there are many pre-conditions for the shipment of life science. Most pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, bio-products, and surgical goods, require refrigerated storage throughout handling & transportation to maintain product integrity. Hence, the need for refrigerated storage is likely to be significantly high in the forecast period.

Under Refrigerated storage, Ultra-frozen (Less than 0?C) acquired a notable market share. Certain drugs, medicines, vaccines like Covid-19 vaccines, & other life-saving bio-pharma products like stem cells require extremely cold temperatures, ranging from 0?C to even -80?C. This burgeoning need for such products has stimulated the demand for refrigerated storage transportation & deep-freeze storage facilities across the region.

On the other hand, Chilled (1?C - 10?C) storage is projected to hold a dominant market share during the forecast period. The GCC region experiences extremely hot weather compared to other neighboring nations. The temperature in summers can go up to 55?C, and storing & transporting pharma products from one location to another becomes extremely difficult. However, the emerging demand for the distribution of a wide range of medicines & vaccines that can help prevent, treat, or cure infectious diseases like HIV and anxiety-related conditions has infused the demand for Chilled (1?C - 10?C) storage across the region.

Country Landscape:

Geographically, the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market expands across:

UAE
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Oman
Bahrain
Kuwait
Amongst all countries across the GCC region, Saudi Arabia acquired the largest share of the Pharmaceutical Logistics Market in the previous few years. It attributes primarily to the rapid rise in the geriatric population of the country and burgeoning instances of chronic diseases like cancer, hypertension, diabetes, & cardiovascular, among others. For example:

In 2017, more than 70% of deaths in Saudi Arabia were caused by non-communicable diseases, states WHO. Moreover, nearly 25% of people are suffering from diabetes, hypertension, or other chronic conditions, and about 50% have two or more chronic diseases.
As a result, the surging cases of chronic diseases across the country have led to the burgeoning demand for medicines, which, in turn, has urged pharmaceutical manufacturers to enhance their production capacities, thereby contributing to the significant growth of the pharmaceutical logistics market in Saudi Arabia.

On the other hand, to encourage domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, the Saudi government has taken several initiatives like Saudi Vision 2030, National Transformation Program (NTP), etc. It has helped the country reduce the dependency on imported pharma products like medicinal drugs, vaccines, generic medicines, etc., thereby providing opportunities to enhance exports. For instance:

In 2019, the Saudi government allocated around USD 12.72 billion funds fr healthcare projects under Saudi Vision 2030. These funds helped the country promote local production of medicines, construct hospitals & laboratories, and thereby strengthen the pharmaceutical supply chain & logistics industry within the economy.
Furthermore, massive investments, partnerships, hospital constructions, well-established insurance systems, and other initiatives have promoted the localized manufacturing of oral solids, APIs, plasma products, medical devices, biosimilars, etc. These initiatives altogether have boosted Saudi Arabia's healthcare sector, which, in turn, has heightened the pharmaceutical logistics market in the country during the historical period.

Market Dynamics:

Key Driver: Mounting Cases of Chronic Diseases & Unhealthy Eating Habits

The rising prevalence of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart issues, & kidney disorders across the GCC region is the prime aspect driving the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market through 2028. Some major countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, etc., with a large population, have reported an upsurge in chronic disease patients.

In addition, unhealthy eating habits and genetic disorders are primarily responsible for the growing diabetic population in the GCC. Lifestyle diseases have been rising across the region, due to which the demand for drugs has increased significantly. Due to these factors, the pharmaceutical logistics market in GCC is considerably growing as there is a notable demand for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.

The leading market players have grasped lucrative opportunities to place their logistics services by home delivery of medicines, collaborating with hospitals, taking contract logistics agreements, etc. For instance:

In April 2020, Bahrain health centers launched chronic disease medicine home delivery to ensure the health, safety, & comfort of patients.
In September 2019, Emirates, Pfizer, and the UAE Ministry of Health & Prevention announced the launch of a prevention campaign for chronic diseases to increase health literacy & public awareness for the global health threat of non-communicable diseases.
Growth Challenge: Container Shortage and Reverse Logistics

In the GCC region, the UAE is the epicenter for distributing pharma products across neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, etc. The panic buying of medicines, drugs, surgical equipment, and devices, among other pharma products, in 2020, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, led to a drastic shortage of containers & vessels. As a result, it affected the UAE's imports of pharma products from countries like the US, India, Japan, Germany, etc., and exports to neighboring countries.

With this shortage of containers, exporters witnessed a notable surge of nearly 50-60% in freight charges & container rent, which severely impacted business activities across the region. Hence, the shortage of containers & the issue of reverse logistics owing to the unprecedented return of containers has hindered the growth of the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market.

India is one of the major exporters of pharma products like generic drugs, chemicals, petroleum products, etc., to the UAE. Hence, the shortage in container demand across India also disrupted the imports of the UAE's pharma products, which posed a challenge for logistic companies across the GCC. Even in 2021, this problem continued among various logistic players in the region.

Key Questions Answered in the Market Research Report:

What are the overall statistics or estimates (Overview, Size- by Value, Forecast Numbers, Segmentation, and Shares) of the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market?
What are the country-wise industry size, growth drivers, and challenges?
What are the key innovations, opportunities, current & future trends, and regulations in the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market?
Who are the key competitors, their key strengths & weaknesses, and how do they perform in the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market based on a competitive benchmarking matrix?
What are the key results derived from surveys conducted during the GCC Pharmaceutical Logistics Market study?