 | Medicinal Plants: An Expanding Role in Development (World Bank, 1996, 32 pages) |
 |  | 1. Introduction |
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World Trade
Medicinal plants are already important to the global economy. In 1980, for instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the world trade at US$500 million. Moreover, as above noted, demand is steadily increasing not only in developing countries but also in the industrialized nations. In both Europe and North America, for example, the demand is being fueled by an outburst of consumer interest in products that are "all-natural" as well as by aggressive marketing of herbal remedies (Lewington, 1993).
Box 1: Growth of a Global Industry
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Herbal Medicine Sales |
Annual Growth Rates by Region (%) | ||||
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Region |
Million US$ |
Region |
1985-91 |
1991-92 |
1993-98 |
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EU |
6,000 |
EU |
10 |
5 |
8 |
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Rest of Europe |
500 |
Rest of Europe |
12 |
8 |
12 |
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Asia |
2,300 |
SE Asia |
15 |
12 |
12 |
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Japan |
2,100 |
Japan |
18 |
15 |
15 |
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North America |
1,500 |
India/Pakistan |
12 |
15 |
15 |
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Total |
1 2,400 | ||||
This rising global interest is now creating burgeoning legitimate and "'underground', trades in plant materials, many of which are already being routinely moved around the world. Most samples are collected in developing countries in a completely unregulated manner. In Nepal, for instance, numbers of medicinal plants are being uprooted and sold as raw products to India, where they are graded, packaged and exported (Edwards, 1993).
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