Exploring Mexico’s Pharmaceutical Market: Opportunities, Challenges, and Market Insights

Mexico is a vibrant pharmaceutical market in Latin America and an emerging centre of health care investment in the world. Multinational drug manufacturers, contract research organizations (CROs), and healthcare exporters are also taking a new look in the country in 2025 as a strategic base near the United States and the Latin American economies.

Having a powerful manufacturing base, affordable labour force, and trade benefits under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico has already become a regional pharmaceutical power and a portal to the Americas. The steady growth in the market is being propelled by rising healthcare spending, an ageing population and rising prevalence of chronic diseases, particularly diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

This detailed market analysis in 2025 covers perspective on market size and growth outlook, market structure and dynamics, key trends, regulatory and policy environment, opportunities, threats, as well as strategic recommendations, which will be useful to global buyers, investors, and exporters planning to enter into Mexico dynamic pharma industry.

For a broader view of Latin America’s evolving pharma industry, explore our in-depth country reports on the Argentina Pharma Market, Brazil Pharma Market, Chile Pharma Market, Venezuela Pharma Market.

• The IMARC Group estimates the Mexican pharmaceuticals market to have, in 2024, USD 19.8 billion in market size and growing to USD 38.5 billion by 2033, which implies a covered CAGR between 2025-33 of 6.9.
• In the case of the biopharmaceutical (large-molecule) segment, the Grand View Research projects the revenue of USD 6.01 billion in 2024, increased to USD 11.07 billion in 2030 (CAGR of approximately 11%).
• IMARC predicts the API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) market to have USD 3.68 billion in 2024 which will go up to USD 5.45 billion in 2033 (CAGR of about 4.4).
• The GlobalData note also estimated that Mexico had a market of about USD 30.04 billion by the year 2025.

At the regional level, the Latin America pharmaceutical market will increase by an average of approximately USD 127 billion in 2024 to USD 234 billion in 2033 (CAGR of approximately 7.0) and Mexico is considered as one of the most important markets.

a) Segmentation and supply chains.

The market consists of prescription (branded and generic), OTC, biologic/biosimilars and APIs. As an illustration: traditional small-molecule drugs are the biggest section; biologics/biosimilars are the quickest growing.

b) Demand-side dynamics

Demographic changes: Aging and the growing chronic disease burden (diabetes, cardiovascular, obesity) of Mexico are pushing demands towards long-term pharmaceutical treatments.

Public vs private sector: One comment: approximately 90% of the population is covered in some way, but out-of-pocket expenditures are over 40% of all healthcare expenditure in Mexico, implying that the importance of the private pay/retail segments.

c) Dynamics of manufacturing/export

Mexico has the advantage of cost-efficient production, ready work force, closeness to the U.S and favourable trade deals. Tanner Pharma claims that Mexico is the second largest pharmaceutical market in Latin America, and it has a solid manufacturing platform of APIs, analgesics, antiparasitics.

Investments In 2025, several multinationals declared they would invest heavily in the manufacturing base of Mexico.

What international consumers must observe

In the case of a foreign manufacturer/ exporter: Mexico provides an alternative to Asia in terms of near-shore manufacturing. Use Mexico both as a domestic and export market to the Americas.

When exporting to Mexico: You will have to work with public-sector tenders (government procurement) and with the individual retail; distribution and alliances will be important.

The Mexican pharmaceutical market is being influenced by a number of major trends:

Emergence of generics and biosimilars: Generics are on the rise to control the cost and accessibility. It has been noted that generics prevail and that biosimilars are increasing at the most rapid rate.

Digital health: Distribution, tele-medicine: The transition to the digital platform of prescriptions, e- health records, telemedicine, and online pharmacy retail channel becomes more significant. Indicatively, API report calls have observed the need to have smart drug-delivery mechanisms and e-prescriptions.

Manufacturing/outsourcing expansion: The intensive manufacturing investment in Mexico is providing a source of opportunity, however, in the contract manufacturing, formulation and APIs that are going to be exported. 

Implications to international buyers

In case of a new therapy or biologic: place in the specialty market, using local regulatory approach and price to meet the need of chronic diseases.

In case of establishing manufacturing: digital/automated manufacturing and contract-manufacture models in Mexico can save money and take advantage of its closeness to the U.S. customers.

Important regulatory authorities & policies

• COFEPRIS (Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks) is the primary controlling body responsible over the registration of drugs, manufacturing licensing, imports/exports, quality, etc.

• Trade climate: Mexico is a member of USMCA, which enhances IP, data exclusivity and trade in pharmaceuticals, which are critical in foreign companies.
• Government investment policy: In 2025, the government declared the plans of pharmaceutical companies investing in Mexico in the amount of MX$12 billion (approximately USD 641.9 million) to increase production and API capacity.

Policy to favour local manufacturing: The government has recently made statements to the effect that foreign companies would get incentives to invest manufacturing capability in Mexico in order to get preferential access to tenders and procurement

The Mexican pharma market presents a variety of opportunity vectors to its global buyer and international players:

Manufacturing / Export: Locate manufacturing of APIs, formulations, generics, biosimilars, which are to be sold in Latin America or U.S. due to low cost and trade proximity in Mexico.

Case in point: The expansion of manufacturing is estimated by the presence of big companies

Despite great opportunities, global buyers will have to deal with the following risks:

Risks of Regulations and Market-Entry in Mexico Pharma Market

Foreign entrants can have slower product registration and manufacturing approvals; domestic regulatory idiosyncrasy needs to be overcome.

Dependency risk to imports: some of the segments, although favouring policy to localisation, are still dominated by imports, which are susceptible to trade friction, or spikes in the currency markets.

IP protection and counterfeit risk: Global brand owners face obstacles to keep protecting high values product in markets that have limited regulatory/arbitrage rate.

Pricing /reimbursement strains: Margins can be constrained by government cost-containment policies, generics substitution policies and public-procurement dynamics.

Logistical/supply-chain: As much as proximity to U.S is important, distribution in Mexico (rural areas included) is complicated; infrastructure variance is important.

Operational and Financial Risks

Currency risk: The Mexican peso (MXN) is subject to change with respect to USD - exporter/ importers are to be hedged.

Local rivalry: The competition among local generic players is high and cheap, which puts a margin strain on the foreign brands.

Global-buyer-specific risks

• There is the risk that exporters into Mexico will be competing with regional exports (e.g. Latin American generic producers) and will need to match the local price sensitivities.
• When establishing manufacturing, multinationals might encounter local content or export-restrictions, joint-venture conditions or special tax/regulatory conditions.
• When exporting to U.S./Canada through Mexico, the contract manufacturers are required to comply with the exportations (e.g., U.S. FDA).

The following are practical strategies of buyer-type:

 Multinationals (Innovative/Branded Firm)

Open a regional HQ + footprint production in Mexico to both serve the domestic and Latin America markets; utilize it as a near-shored export base in North America/Latin America.

Chronic-disease (diabetes, cardiovascular, oncology, obesity) with high demand; employ adequate budget to local registration, clinical data development as well as market-access strategy.

Negotiate local production or joint venture (JV) early-up- this can enhance government tender and procurement tender.

Take advantage of digital marketing, patient-assistance programs, and e-health/telemedicine to serve as an addition to product launches in Mexico, where out-of-pocket expenditure is high.

Conduct intense compliance and IP-risk audits; enter into agreements with reputable local partners and develop effective QA mechanisms in case of manufacturing locally.

Mexican pharmaceutical market presents an attractive combination of volume, growth, production strength as well as geographic positioning to international purchasers. As the market already approaches at this stage of approximately USD 20 billion (2024) and grows substantially in the next decade, foreign actors can choose to achieve success in many ways, be it by production, export, specialized therapy, and online/retail distribution.

But, it is not automatic success. International buyers should be keen to dodge regional regulation, distribution challenges, pricing and partner exposure. An individual entry strategy incorporating the strengths of Mexico (cost of manufacture, closeness to U.S, trade-agreements) and countering the risks (delays in regulatory processes, intellectual property, local competition) will place the companies at a good position.

To a global buyer, Mexico must be considered as an opportunity and a strategic center to the Americas, but with an early planning, local relationships, regulatory knowledge and supply chain optimisation being extremely important.

— Tanner Pharma / GlobalData
 — Renub
— IMARC Group
— Grand View Research
— 6WResearch
— Grand View Research
— PharmaBoardroom
— El País (news)