Demand for medical technology is being buoyed by a growing health awareness and increased willingness to spend money on medical services. To date the USA dominates the global market for medical technology with a 43 % share in overall sales. But the US share in global exports is much lower as US companies have so far focused mainly on their home market. By contrast, Germany enjoys a strong competitive position in relation to its home market. The close links with other heavily export-oriented sectors, such as electrical engineering and machinery, permanently feed technological innovations, opening up new applications and giving the sector an additional boost. Thanks to their healthy competitive position, German medical technology firms will continue to benefit from the sales momentum on the world markets. In the long term, booming export activity is likely to lead to annual average growth of more than 5 %.
German medical technology– a thriving growth sector?
At home, by contrast, sales figures will do little more than stagnate. This is largely a result of the chronic shortage of funds in the public sector – the main clinic sponsor – and the savings constraints on the statutory health insurance funds. The upshot is extremely vapid investment activity which, over a period of many years, has led to a substantial investment backlog. However, German companies in the medical technology field have adapted to the circumstances accordingly: only just over a third of their revenues is currently generated at home.
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