Global Ultrasound Poised for Growth Due to Emerging Markets

The global ultrasound market is predicted to grow by 27% over the next five years in spite of the continuing economic challenges, with emerging healthcare markets key to maintaining future global growth, according to a new market research.

Among the factors driving the market expansion of ultrasound in the years to come are the projected strong growth of the China space, increased government investment to modernize healthcare in Russia, and health-improvement objectives in Southeast Asia and Brazil, according to international market research company, IMS Research, now part of IHS, Inc. (Englewood, CO, USA).

The future projections are encouraging, particularly because the market was inundated in 2012 in Europe and the United States, where economic worries made their detrimental effects come to fruition. For instance, slashes in healthcare spending in Southern Europe caused many healthcare providers to postpone buying and use their existing ultrasound equipment for longer periods.

Similarly, in the United States, uncertainty regarding the fiscal cliff and the Affordable Care Act also resulted in delayed ultrasound purchases during 2012. As a result, growth of the US ultrasound market in 2012 slowed to an estimated 3.4%, down from 8.1% in 2011.

Strong growth in China, however, helped counteract low growth last year in the mature markets and aided in enhancing overall performance of the global ultrasound space. China will also continue to enjoy extensive government investment, with the country’s 2020 Health Plan planning to provide equal access to healthcare services for the whole population by then. A strong focus of the plan is to increase the construction of county hospitals to provide so-called centers of excellence, while also adding to the number of clinics that support the population in smaller towns and villages.

“Medical device manufacturers will benefit from the development of new infrastructure in China, as demand for medical systems will grow in order to equip new hospitals,” said Carly Reed, senior analyst for medical imaging at IHS. “Additional investment for existing hospitals to update old equipment will also spur demand for higher-specification ultrasound systems over the next few years.”

Another area where the ultrasound market grew in 2012 was Russia, up almost 25%, due to increased government investment in updating healthcare services, generating a considerable increase in tenders for ultrasound equipment. Growth is predicted to slow in 2013 as a large proportion of equipment had been upgraded in 2012, and the Russian market may become more cyclical going forward, with replacement driving strong growth again in five or six years.

Helping to fuel the long-term growth of the worldwide ultrasound market is also the necessity to improve both the standard and access of healthcare services in many other emerging markets, such as Brazil, India, and Southeast Asia, matched by the stronger performance forecast for many mature healthcare markets from 2014 onward.

The emerging markets, according to IHS analysts, will see penetration of ultrasound systems intensify, while the mature markets in areas such as the United States and Europe will benefit as the economic picture improves and pent-up demand grows for imaging equipment.

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