Opportunities still exist in Western Europe -- specifically Spain, where the medical device market swelled 19.7 percent overall between 2008 and 2013, according to statistics from Reportstack. The global distributor of market research reports said the country's medtech sector grew at a 3.4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) within those five years, from $7.1 billion in 2008 ato $8.5 billion in 2013.
Reportstack speculates an aging population and free healthcare service will help drive an overall expansion of the country’s healthcare market over the next five years.
Spain’s medical devices space is expected to reach $12 billion by 2020, representing a CAGR of 5 percent.
The in-vitro diagnostics and diabetic care device segments were the largest contributors to Spain’s medical device market in 2013. Other major segments included orthopedic, cardiovascular and ophthalmic devices.
“Spain’s medical devices sector is benefiting significantly from the increase in electronic health services and a strong medtech industry. However, new drug pricing policies and the promotion of generics as a cost-containment tool are severely limiting the country’s pharmaceutical market growth," Reportstack's latest research states. “The government’s new policies, introduced in 2011 and 2012, require drug manufacturers to price their products lower than the reference price, and it is now mandatory for pharmacists to dispense the cheapest available drugs to patients, further impacting pharmaceutical market value.”
Austerity measures implemented by the Spanish government have negated the effect of key drivers behind the country’s pharmaceutical market, resulting in a contracting market between 2008 and 2020, industry experts observe.
In an effort to contain costs by 2020, the Association Européenne des Spécialités Pharmaceutiques Grand Public (AESGP) reported a decline in Spain’s pharmaceutical market revenues, from $29 billion in 2008 to $24 billion in 2013, at a negative CAGR of 3.7 percent, data suggests.
The market’s value is expected to decrease even further to $22.6 billion by the end of the forecast period, representing a negative CAGR of 0.9 percent.