Healthcare industry forecast to grow at 8.4%

The healthcare industry in Malaysia is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4 per cent from 2012 to 2018.

Frost & Sullivan Vice-President for Heathcare, Asia Pacific, Rhenu Bhuller, said growth would be driven by consumption of healthcare services and medication.

"Post 2015, technologies like IT systems will play a key role in driving growth," she said during a 2013 Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific Healthcare Outlook briefing.

Bhuller said the Malaysia healthcare market was worth US$2.25 billion in 2012 and will grow to US$3.65 billion by 2018.

"The cost of healthcare is going to go up and cannot depend on public heathcare," she said.

In this respect, she said, there is a need to manage the costs of healthcare in a cost-effective manner.

"It is finding the right balance of government and private expenditure," she said.

Some countries where medical costs are heavily funded by the government are running into huge difficulties and are now trying to reform medical costs, she said.

Frost & Sullivan finds that healthcare expenditure in Asia Pacific will almost double in the next six years with the largest share coming from China, Japan and India.

The Malaysian healthcare expenditure market is expected to reach US$22.1 billion in 2018 with a CAGR of 6.5 per cent over the 2012-2018 period, according to a statement by Frost & Sullivan.

The Asia Pacific healthcare market, according to the business consulting firm, was worth US$369.9 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach US$752 billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 12.8 per cent while global growth rates continue at less than six per cent during the same period.