According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s foreign trade statistics, in March Russia imported $3.4 million worth of U.S. medicines. For comparison, in February the volume of shipments in this category amounted to only $10.1 thousand. Thus, imports increased 334 times during the month.
At the same time, a year earlier the dynamics was less sharp. In February 2025, the export of American drugs to Russia was estimated at $748.9 thousand, and in March – almost $1.9 million.
According to RBC, Russia is still dependent on pharmaceutical imports. Despite the policy of localization of pharmaceutical production in Russia, in the first half of 2025, the share of imported drugs was 49.8%, while localized products accounted for 50.2%.
According to the information of foreign customs services as of September 2025, Germany remained the largest supplier of medicines to Russia. It was followed by Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
It should be noted that pharmaceutical products are not subject to most of the direct Western sanctions against Russia, but restrictions on logistics, payments and insurance continue to affect international shipments.
