New Delhi: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has unveiled its latest report, “The Unmissable Asia Healthcare Opportunity”, which projects Asia-Pacific’s healthcare market to hit an impressive $5 trillion by 2030, driving 40% of global sector growth. This landmark report explores the transformative potential of Asia’s healthcare landscape, fueled by demographic shifts, rising chronic disease burdens, and groundbreaking innovations.
Drawing upon global trends and insightful analysis, the report emphasizes that Asia’s developing economies will benefit from a significant economic payoff, as they invest in healthcare. The report comprehensively explores the Asian healthcare market from multiple perspectives—providers, innovators, and payers—and identifies key factors driving transformation:
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Asia accounts for only 22% of global health care spending, despite being home to 60% of the global population.
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Chronic conditions such as diabetes and cancer affect the region disproportionately, and the region will have to find its own unique healthcare models to manage this disease burden.
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Of the top 5 prevalent cancers in Asia, liver and stomach cancer have a lower prevalence in the West, which means that Asia will need to invent is own solutions.
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Rapid aging of populations, along with significant gaps in HC infrastructure and capabilities- signal a market ripe for disruption.
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There are significant opportunities across all sub-sectors – innovative hospital and specialty care, contract manufacturing and research, as well as innovation driven biotech, and models of digital health involved omni-channel patient journeys.
Commenting on the transformative potential of Asia’s healthcare market, Priyanka Aggarwal, Managing Director and Senior Partner & India and South East Asia Leader, Healthcare Practice, BCG, says, “We are at a unique point in time where Asian healthcare is at the confluence of many tailwinds – rapidly shifting demographics, trade-flows and FDIs favoring Asia as a destination, and demand factors like growing chronic disease burden and a new more active and demanding patient – that creates opportunities to re-imagine how Healthcare will be delivered in Asia. Given heterogeneity of countries in the region, each country will create its own innovation service models to serve this demand. These innovative models in service delivery, innovative drugs and expanding capacity of contract research and manufacturing will provide ample opportunities for investors to participate and unlock the full potential of Asia.”
Significant investment opportunities will be unlocked, which will spawn innovations that will fundamentally change how healthcare is accessed and delivered across the region. Asia is home to an evolving patient profile, which the report refers to as “Patient 2.0.” These are not passive HC recipients but active consumers. They are involved in decisions about their health care, whether it is selecting medical institutions and doctors they prefer or adhering to treatment plans.
The report also delves into key factors propelling pace and shape of growth, especially shifts in patient preferences, increasing urbanization and affluence, under-served markets and GenAI use cases. Key findings include –
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Given the heterogenous HC markets in Asia, there is a unique double bottom-line opportunity for impact capital to penetrate HC within Asia, across all its delivery channels.
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The rollout of new HC service pathways will be unique to each country, filling specific gaps. This will happen across health services, pharmaceuticals, pharma services, biotech and digital health.
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In terms of specific growth sub-sectors, HC services are the largest value pool in Asia, projected to grow between grow from $1.0-1.5 trillion currently to $2.0-2.5 trillion by 2028. The pharmaceutical and MedTech sectors are also expected to see significant growth of 9% and 8%, respectively, over the next five years.