Dubai – Mubasher: The value of the private healthcare segment in the GCC is projected to grow by around 8.7% annually to reach $94 billion by 2021, according to a new report.
In 2016, the GCC private healthcare market recorded $62 billion, according to MENA Research Partners (MRP).
Saudi Arabia and the UAE combined account for over a third of the market, with the UAE enjoying the fastest growth in the region.
“Healthcare services account for the lion’s share of the healthcare industry, at 79%, and is the fastest growing segment in UAE. On the other hand, medical devices segment, the smallest, is witnessing double-digit growth in Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait,” revealed MRP CEO Anthony Hobeika.
Segments like telemedicine, home healthcare and long-term care, which are still in nascent stages, are “outperforming traditional health service providers such as hospitals and clinics,” MRP revealed.
The regional healthcare market is “undergoing structural shifts to adapt to the demands of health-conscious and digital-savvy population,” the report highlighted.
The changes in market dynamics, particularly from curative to preventive care, alongside the digital transformation in the sector, are creating investment opportunities across the region, Hobeika added.
Although recent geopolitical events and economic woes have hit various GCC members hard, especially after oil prices more than halved in the past few years, the healthcare sector remained an essential part of these governments’ budgets and expenditure, MRP’s top official stressed.
He further indicated that the private sector played a key role in the long-term development of the sector, especially in terms of quality care.
“Economic diversification plans and national healthcare strategies to decrease the capacity shortage and improve the quality standards of the medical services, are leading states to open the sector to full foreign ownership and share the healthcare burden with the private sector,” Hobeika concluded.
