Egypt’s Healthcare Expansion to Continue despite Deep Civil Unrest

Wednesday 6 March 2013, Amsterdam

Despite a number of major socio-political issues, including widespread public discontent and political instability, Egypt’s healthcare sector will demonstrate relatively impressive growth in the future, predicts research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company’s new report forecasts Egypt’s pharmaceutical market to climb from a value of US$3 billion in 2012 to US$5.3 billion in 2020, while the county’s medical devices market is expected to grow from US$789m to US$1.1 billion during the same period.

Pricing policies introduced in May 2011, which linked the price of pharmaceuticals with international prices, are expected to act as a key growth driver for Egypt’s healthcare sector in the coming years.

Additionally, last October’s proposal of a new universal healthcare law that will provide health insurance coverage to the entire Egyptian population should prove a significant boost to healthcare revenue once introduced across the country.

However, the social turmoil currently permeating Egypt has given rise to a number of significant obstacles to growth. The North African nation has a population of approximately 80 million, the majority of whom are of working-age, but unemployment levels have crept up in recent years and stood at 12.5% by the end of 2012.

Political instability has also been a major problem since the revolution in January 2011. Egypt’s economy is currently facing high inflation, a weakening of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and last year the country’s fiscal deficit increased to 10% – a factor that may substantially affect how much the Egyptian government allocates to healthcare spending in the future.

Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape – Egypt

This report provides an overview of the pharmaceutical and medical devices markets, comprising size, segmentation and key drivers and barriers.

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData’s team of industry experts.