Healthcare is an essential part of life. It is at the focal point of every individual, family, and community. According to the World Health Organization, investing in basic healthcare is necessary for many nations to expand access for the most vulnerable, create more just societies, and support economic development.
When the pandemic hit, it further underscored how important it is for the local community to have easy access to the right medical resources, tools, supplies, and equipment. This presents investment opportunities that will support the need to serve the growing demands for the health sector.
Growing demand for medical products and services
At a global scale, the healthcare market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.7% by 2025. Investments to fund innovation in the sector also reached an all-time high of $44B last year while on-demand healthcare market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.94% in the next decade.
In the Philippines, overall population has reached 110 million in 2020 and is expected to increase to 125 million by 2030 and 145 million by 2042. It is vital to understand the need for better and reliable healthcare supplies, equipment, and systems that can support the growing population.
“We have always seen the need to support our country and our fellowmen by providing them access to quality and reasonably priced medical products. It became more evident in the past two years how critical the healthcare industry is for people and so we commit to continue to do our part and expand our capabilities to support this demand and our healthcare sector,” shares Rudy Medina, Chairman of Medical Depot.
Businesses in the healthcare sector are less impacted by economic downturns
Historically, in the last eight years, the Philippines healthcare expenditures have grown with an 11% CAGR from Php 489B to Php 911B.
In 2020, the Philippines was one of the countries that was heavily affected by COVID-19. When the pandemic hit, the Philippines saw a major economic downturn with the economy shrinking almost 10% during that year.
However, the healthcare sector continued to bolster and have even grown substantially. In fact according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, health spending in the Philippines last year registered 12.6% in growth.
The imminent progress of the health care sector, specifically for the Philippine medical device market, is expected to grow with a double digit CAGR in the next five years and can possibly reach Php 130-billion value by 2025.
Government plans to enhance the nation’s healthcare system
The Philippine government is expected to provide more services such as MRI, CT scan, dialysis, and laboratory tests in the future. With the current government, they want to ensure that the dysfunctions that the country experienced during the pandemic will not be repeated in the future.
In an interview done with President Bongbong Marcos in January 24 with media, it was revealed that he plans to revisit the healthcare system and use the country’s experience to fix it so that when another medical issue arises in the future, the Philippines will be ready.
Understanding the importance of the health of the citizens is one of the responsibilities of the government. With that, DOH crafted a 20-year development for upgrading of Specialty Centers, that includes eye care, toxicology, dermatology care for selected hospitals and success indicators by 2022, 2030 and 2040.
Healthcare will always be around
The healthcare industry in the Philippines has seen an increase in demand after a few years due to the response efforts from COVID-19, making it a practical investment for many. It will remain to be an integral component for the Philippines as the health of its citizens affect many facets of the country.
As of December 2021, there are a total of 124 level 3 hospitals in NCR, 335 level 2 hospitals located in Region IV-A, and a total of 816 level 1 hospitals in the Philippines. The continuous growth of hospitals in the country signifies the widening access to healthcare facilities.
Because of the high and consistent demand for healthcare products, supplies, and goods, adding a healthcare company into one’s portfolio is a good option. By doing so is not only a sound investment decision but also putting a stake and contribution to the growth of the country as a whole.
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