Ireland’s pharmaceutical industry has strengthened its position as one of the state’s most critical economic pillars, according to new analysis published by the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA). The report, unveiled at the association’s annual conference in Dublin, shows the sector has reached record levels across employment, output, exports and tax receipts, despite global supply‑chain volatility and geopolitical uncertainty.

The Goodbody analysis, commissioned by IPHA, positions the sector’s performance within Europe’s wider push to reinforce health‑sector competitiveness as Ireland prepares to assume the presidency of the Council of the EU later this year.

IPHA said the findings provide the foundation for a shift toward improving patient access, with the newly concluded IPHA Framework Agreement intended to “recast the value of innovation” in the Irish health system.

Addressing the conference via video message, EU Health Commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, warned that Europe’s health systems, “long been a model of universal coverage,” now face rising pressures linked to ageing demographics, chronic disease and “pressures around access to medicines and medical devices. Too often, patients are going without the treatments they need.”

He cautioned that Europe is falling behind in pharmaceutical innovation: “Our share of global clinical trials has halved in a decade, from 22% to just 12%,” he said, adding that “only 7% of health biotech venture capital goes to European startups” and that “none of the top 10 best selling advanced therapy medicinal products in 2022 was developed by an EU company.”

However, the Goodbody report noted that Ireland remains a bright spot, one of Europe’s most competitive life‑sciences hubs, citing “deep expertise in high value biologics, sterile injectables and advanced therapeutics manufacturing.” Labour Force Survey data shows 75,200 people working in the NACE 21 pharmaceutical category in Q4 2025, up 19 per cent year on year and representing 2.7 per cent of the workforce.

Big across the Atlantic

The report identifies pharmaceuticals as a core driver of the Irish economy, citing €139bn in exports in 2025 – 53 per cent of all goods exports – alongside pharma exports representing 41 per cent of GNI, with shipments to the US accounting for 25 per cent.

It also notes that 75,000 people are employed directly and indirectly in the industry, where employment growth has been running at roughly three times the pace of the broader labour market. The sector contributed an estimated €6bn in total taxes in 2023, including about 18 per cent of all corporation tax receipts, followed by €4.1bn in corporation tax paid in 2024.

Ireland, now the EU’s second‑largest pharmaceutical exporter, “hosts the highest number of FDA registered drug manufacturing sites per capita in Europe,” the report states – evidence, it says, of its leadership in biologics, advanced therapeutics and complex manufacturing.

Irish pharmaceutical industry leaders emphasised both the scale of the sector’s contribution and the need to accelerate access to new medicines. Oliver O’Connor, IPHA chief executive, remarked that “[The Goodbody] report confirms that the pharmaceutical industry is one of Ireland’s greatest strategic strengths. It is an engine of stability and growth, delivering record exports, high value employment and major tax contributions – even as the global environment becomes more uncertain.”

Biotech at heart of innovation

Addressing the Dublin audience, Commissioner Várhelyi said he welcomed the political agreement reached in December on revised EU pharmaceutical legislation, saying the Commission is “now finalising the details so that the revision can be formally adopted.”

He said biotechnology sits “at the heart” of a broader package proposed in December, including a forthcoming Biotech Act designed to speed clinical trials, clarify approval pathways and provide “an extra year of patent protection for high impact innovations,” alongside plans to “mobilize 10 billion euros with the EIB Group over the next two years to help startups to scale up.”

He also highlighted moves to simplify medical‑device rules and accelerate access to technologies “from next-generation implants to AI-enabled diagnostics,” backed by the SafeHearts plan to support new prevention and treatment tools.

“We face a simple choice. To keep falling behind in the global race for innovation or to make a change,” he said. “In this work, the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, representing stakeholders in the country of the upcoming presidency, will be important.”

Shane Ryan, IPHA president, said: “Ireland’s pharmaceutical sector is one of the most competitive anywhere in the world – powered by exceptional talent, deep expertise and a strong track record of delivery.” While other industry leaders speaking at the annual conference framed the moment as an opportunity to align Ireland’s fiscal gains with measurable improvements in patient outcomes, reinforcing the country’s role in shaping the EU’s next phase of health‑policy reform.

[VA]