SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRAZILIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY BETWEEN 2010 AND 2024

CONCENTRATION OR EQUITABLE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION?

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry is technology-intensive, creates skilled jobs, and hosts major enterprises operating globally. However, production tends to be concentrated in specific central regions, with high population density and technical services. In Brazil, national pharmaceutical enterprises have strengthened since 2010, marking a distinct shift from the previous situation. This article aims to verify whether this development occurred equally across all regions of the country or if regional concentration persists, and what implications this has for the sustainability of quality of life in territories where the industry is absent. The methodology is descriptive and quantitative, using data on enterprise numbers, revenue and quantities sold, establishments, and employment relationships related to medicine manufacturing for human use from 2010 to 2024. The results show that, during the period studied, pharmaceutical enterprises tended to concentrate in the Southeast region, especially in the state of São Paulo, where the largest number of enterprises, employment relationships, percentage of revenue, and sales volume are located. Thus, it can be concluded that the strengthening of Brazilian national enterprises reinforced the regional concentration of their production, already observed before 2000, despite the decentralization effort represented by the Goiás experience, thus not contributing to the sustainable territorial development of other Brazilian regions.