By the (Economic) Numbers Strong economic growth in Asian countries also contributes to the region&

By the (Economic) Numbers
Strong economic growth in Asian countries also contributes to the region’s growing medical device market. In fact, despite the global economic downturn, Asia is the fastest growing region, enjoying a 5 to 8 percent growth rate of gross domestic product. Comparatively, the United States and Europe have been growing slowly, at a max of 2.5 percent. This strong economic growth means that Asian countries have the resources to invest more in their healthcare markets.

Additionally, Asia’s middle class is expanding more quickly than any of the other continents. Asia is expected to be the home of more than 50 percent of the world’s middle class population by 2030. This rising Asian middle class is projected to increase consumer spending to $30 trillion by 2020 from $5 trillion in 2009. The Asian middle class is expected to be responsible for 60 percent of global middle class spending by 2020. The majority of the Asian middle class also lives in urban cities that easily are accessible to international medical device companies.

As the Asian population experiences increases in wealth, the healthcare sector in Asia will expand as well. Asian countries such as China, India and Vietnam already have made the development of healthcare products and services a top priority. China sharply has increased the amount of funding toward medical device research and product development to position the country as a rival to the United States in the future. The Indian government has pledged, at least in theory, to double public spending on healthcare by 2017 in order to provide “free” healthcare to all of its citizens. As the spending power of Asian countries increases, Asian consumers also have become increasingly brand conscious. This will lead to a rise in demand for higher end quality Western medical devices.