Frost & Sullivan: Rising Patient Demands And Life Expectancy In Asia Pacific Continues To Drive Healthcare Sector

SINGAPORE, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Singapore healthcare expenditure market was worth US$ 11.7 billion in 2012 and will grow to US$ 22.3 billion by 2018, which represents a CAGR of 11.4% from 2012 to 2018. The growth of the Singapore healthcare market will also set the increment in healthcare workforce such as doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and allied health professionals by 50%, that is, 20,000 by 2020.

The Asia Pacific healthcare market was worth US$ 369.9 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach US$ 752 billion in 2018, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.8% while global growth rates continue at less than 6% during the same period.

Rhenu Bhuller, Vice President, Healthcare, Asia Pacific, Frost & Sullivan said, "Healthcare expenditure continues to experience growth as rising patient demands for better healthcare will result in healthcare reforms in Asia Pacific. Increasing urbanization is accompanied with growing consumer awareness and an expanding middle class, progressively skewing population density. This all translates to an increased demand for improved healthcare services."

She continued, "The increasing life expectancy in the region will also result in more elderly requiring long-term care. Asia Pacific will consist of over 2.3 billion people above 65 years of age and the average percentage of people above 65 will rise from 9.8% in 2013 to 11% in 2018 across the region. 68.5% of people will be in the working age of 15-64 years."

Private Hospital Sector Set for Growth in APAC

About 180 million new hospital beds will be needed over the next decade to meet the rising healthcare demand in Asia Pacific; more than 40% of that is expected to come from the private sector. Favourable government policies, increasing disposable income and changing demographics will drive growth in private hospitals. Private hospital revenue in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.1% from 2012 to 2018.

China leads the demand as currently only 6.8% of all beds are in private hospitals and the China government has plans to increase it to 20% by 2015 and it would create a need for about 400,000 new private hospital beds per year.

Healthcare IT Presents a Highly Competitive Market

APAC has traditionally been a laggard in implementing technology in healthcare and this trend will continue into 2013. The revenue forecast for Healthcare IT in Asia Pacific is looked to reach at a CAGR of 13.1% from 2012 to 2018. Large scale implementations will generate better returns on investment for both healthcare providers and technology vendors.

The most formidable challenge is around interoperability arising from the lack of uniform standards, protocols, data definitions and data sharing laws across APAC countries. Budget constraints also hamper adoption.

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