Steady Growth in Tentative Times

Originally Published MDDI December 2004

Medtech Snapshot

Market Size

Despite fluctuations in both the domestic and world economies, the U.S. medical device industry remains a vibrant and progressive industry, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC).

Steady growth in the U.S. market will be tempered by “poor economic performance and cost containment in Europe and Latin America,” according to Espicom Business Intelligence, a research group based in the UK. The firm notes that many Asian markets are now performing strongly again. Leading markets in central Europe that became EU members in 2004 are also performing well.

The largest market for medical equipment is by far the United States. The Americas make up 56.3% of the world market, followed by the European Economic Area, which makes up 22.9%. However, the medical industry is a global industry, and medical device manufacturers look increasingly to developing countries for future growth, according to DoC.

The graph below provides a snapshot of how each sector in the U.S. device market has grown in the last 25 years. The pie chart at right shows a relative breakdown of the the medical device market worldwide.

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