Middle East And Africa Diabetes Drugs - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

Middle East And Africa Diabetes Drugs Market Analysis

The Middle East and Africa diabetes treatment market size stood at USD 1.51 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 2.31 billion by 2030, reflecting a steady 7.16% CAGR. Accelerating prevalence of type 2 diabetes, rising obesity rates, and the expanding pool of younger, urban patients are generating durable demand. Government localization mandates in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, coupled with the UAE’s fast-track approval pathways, are stimulating domestic production of insulin and novel injectables. Premium GLP-1 receptor agonists such as oral semaglutide and once-weekly tirzepatide are gaining traction among insured Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) populations, while price-sensitive segments in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to rely on human insulin supplied through new public-private partnerships. Meanwhile, e-pharmacy platforms are changing how patients obtain medications, and real-world evidence from regional studies is guiding physicians toward earlier initiation of combination therapy.

Middle East And Africa Diabetes Drugs Market Trends and Insights

Rising Prevalence of Diabetes & Obesity

Newly published 2024 hospital registry updates confirm double-digit diabetes prevalence across GCC states, with Saudi clinics reporting baseline HbA1c readings above 10% in incoming patients, underscoring the severity of metabolic deterioration. Urban migration, dietary westernization, and sedentary work patterns continue to raise body-mass indices, lengthening lifetime treatment duration. The trend is spreading southward as processed foods penetrate major African cities where healthcare access is fragmented. For pharmaceutical companies, this enlarges the addressable population for basal insulin, GLP-1 agonists, and emerging once-weekly pills. It also strengthens the case for preventive public-health spending, which in turn supports formularies covering weight-control agents.

Government Initiatives for Improving Diabetic Medication Access

Saudi Arabia’s National Unified Procurement Company (NUPCO) signed ten memoranda of understanding with multinational manufacturers in October 2024 to localize insulin and GLP-1 production, improving supply security while meeting Vision 2030 objectives. Egypt followed suit in December 2024 when Eli Lilly and EVA Pharma launched the first domestically produced insulin glargine, targeting one million patients by 2030. In the UAE, the 2025 Federal Decree-Law No. 38 sets conditional approval pathways and mandatory pharmacovigilance, shortening the time to market for innovative molecules.Collectively, these policies reduce import dependence, enforce quality standards, and foster technology transfer, making locally sourced biologics more affordable.

High Cost of Novel Therapies

Even as the Middle East and Africa diabetes treatment market expands, affordability gaps widen between affluent GCC consumers and low-income groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. A 2025 qualitative assessment across Ethiopian primary-care clinics found that constrained household budgets, scarce insurance options, and limited device availability continue to hamper optimal care, especially for insulin-requiring patients. Nigerian field interviews completed in June 2024 revealed that more than 80% of respondents considered branded medication prices prohibitive, steering them toward older generics. Consequently, manufacturers must craft tiered-pricing and donation programs while governments seek bulk-procurement partnerships to bridge therapeutic inequality.

Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:

1. Expanding Health Insurance Coverage in GCC
2. Rapid Growth of e-Pharmacy Platforms
3. Counterfeit Drugs in Informal Channels

For complete list of drivers and restraints, kindly check the Table Of Contents.

Segment Analysis

Non-insulin injectables are projected to grow at 9.12% annually, gradually eating into the 38.46% share that oral drugs held in 2024. The shift became evident when Saudi clinicians documented a 3.1% mean HbA1c decline and a 19.7% BMI reduction six months after initiating oral semaglutide in routine practice. The Middle East and Africa diabetes treatment market size for non-insulin injectables is expected to climb at double the pace of basal insulin because payers are linking reimbursement to weight management and cardiovascular outcomes. Weekly tirzepatide therapy replicated pivotal-trial efficacy in a 2024 UAE cohort, with nearly two-thirds of patients achieving glycemic targets inside 40 weeks. These results embolden regional formularies to list premium GLP-1/GIP co-agonists earlier in treatment algorithms.

GLP-1 demand is also spreading south as Novo Nordisk and Aspen begin local insulin cartridge production in South Africa, freeing capacity to import incretin mimetics into neighboring markets. Fixed-dose tablets that combine metformin with DPP-4 inhibitors are positioned for short-term uptake because they simplify regimens for multi-morbid elderly patients. Ramadan-specific adherence research, such as the 2025 O-SEMA-FAST study, is informing culturally tailored prescribing patterns during fasting periods. Overall, competition is intensifying as biosimilar GLP-1s approach patent expiry in the late 2020s, at which point low-cost regional manufacturers plan to launch.

The Middle East and Africa Diabetes Drugs Market Report is Segmented by Therapy Class (Oral Anti-Diabetic Drugs, Insulins, Non-Insulin Injectable Drugs, and More), Diabetes Type (Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes), Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies and More) and Geography (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iran, Egypt, and More). The Market Forecasts are Provided in Terms of Value (USD).

List of Companies Covered in this Report:

1. Novo Nordisk
2. Sanofi
3. Eli Lilly and Company
4. Merck
5. AstraZeneca
6. Boehringer Ingelheim
7. Janssen
8. Pfizer
9. Novartis
10. Takeda Pharmaceuticals
11. Astellas Pharma
12. GlaxoSmithKline
13. Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries
14. Cipla
15. Hikma Pharmaceuticals
16. Julphar
17. Biocon
18. Aspen Pharmacare

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support