Brazil’s trend on the healthcare industry

While ABIMO (Brazilian Healthcare, Medical and Dental Equipment Industry Association) doesn’t have the final numbers of the Brazilian healthcare industry for 2015, we can analyze the sector’s trend until the previous year. The industry of medical and dental equipment grew by 9.1%, in comparison to 2013; while the job market grew by 2.3%.

Source: European Medical Device Technology

Due to Brazil’s large population and increase spending on healthcare, the country’s imports on medical devices passed the US$ 1 billion mark. The exports, however, reached US$70 million only. The United States is both the main origin of imports and destination of exports. Followed by Germany, China and Japan in the origin side and Argentina, Mexico and Belgium on the destination side. There’s a huge gap on the sector’s average revenue per unit between imports (US$ 114.99) and exports (US$33.04) - which makes the trade balance even worse.

The bottom line is that Brazil continues to be a great buyer of healthcare products due to its inability to meet its own demand. On the other hand, the country can be a great source of exports due to competitive prices, strong regulatory and intellectual property system.

Trend report: Top 10 Medical Device Technologies Market by Type

Research and Markets has announced the release of their new report called "Top 10 Medical Device Technologies Market by Type (IVD, Cardiology, Diagnostic Imaging, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Endoscopy, Diabetes Care, Wound Management, Kidney/Dialysis, and Anesthesia & Respiratory Care Devices) - Global Forecast to 2020".

These global top medical device markets are expected to reach more than USD 400 million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 5.5% during 2015 to 2020. The trend is mostly driven by the rising incidence of chronic diseases and increase in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), technological advancements in medical devices, and growing aging population.

In this report, the top 10 medical device markets are segmented by type and region: in vitro diagnostics (IVD) devices, cardiology devices, diagnostic imaging devices, orthopedic devices, ophthalmology devices, endoscopy devices, diabetes care devices, wound management devices, kidney/dialysis devices, and anesthesia & respiratory care devices.

In 2014, North America was responsible for the largest share of the market, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.  The U.S. is a major market due to the “easy access to advanced medical devices through well-established distribution channels, high patient awareness on medical device technologies, and presence of advanced healthcare infrastructure”. Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region because of “the large population and rising healthcare needs, increased spending capabilities of consumers on healthcare, improving healthcare infrastructure in the region, and increasing investments by leading players and respective government agencies”.