Belgium was the largest exporter of human vaccines in 2022, reaching $46 billion, according to Eurostat data.
The amount represents a 3.6% increase over 2021 and a record.
Within these exports, 35.7 billion dollars corresponded to vaccines related to coronavirus.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), vaccine production is highly specialized, subject to comparative advantages and concentrated in a few countries.
The Covid-19 pandemic significantly boosted vaccine exports for human medicine. In Belgium, for example, exports rose from $11.8 billion in 2020 to $44.5 billion in 2021.
The latest available trade data show interesting trends. While most countries around the world import vaccines, relatively few export them.
As of 2020, 208 economies imported vaccines. This ranks vaccines in the 6th percentile for the total number of importing countries compared to other commodities. On the other hand, 90 economies exported vaccines. This places vaccines in the 35th percentile for the total number of exporting countries.
Human vaccines
Although each vaccine consists of different components, the vaccine supply chain can be divided into three or sometimes four key steps, according to the OECD.
The first step is drug discovery. This is followed by mass production. Then comes distribution and administration. Finally, there is reverse logistics, which applies if products like portable coolers need to be returned.
Human vaccine exports from China went from $280 million in 2020, to $15.66 billion in 2021, to just $993 million in 2022.
According to the U.S. government, vaccines are injections, liquids, pills or nasal sprays that people take to teach their body’s immune system to recognize and defend against harmful germs.
For example, vaccines are available to protect against diseases caused by viruses, such as those that cause influenza and Covid-19, and bacteria, such as tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.
Finally, exports of human vaccines from United States rose from $1.77 billion to $14.81 billion from 2020 to 2021, then dropped to $7.92 billion, according to Commerce Department statistics.