Healthcare firms’ profits feared to dive 16% as medical tourism wears out

Is it time to flock to untapped markets?

The sector is in a state of jeopardy with less patients deciding to continue with their elective surgeries and even less foreign medical tourists opting for treatment at the city-state.

According to analysts from Maybank Kim Eng, a 5-10% decline in overall healthcare revenue is looming.

However, analysts say that the sector will be resilient due to a robust healthcare demand coupled with more healthcare businesses pushing for expansion.

“Private healthcare demand is expected to be strongly underpinned by ageing populations and rising affluence in Asia,” Maybank Kim Eng said in a report.

“Geographical expansion by all the hospital operators across Asia over the years should also help them tap underpenetrated markets like China and India,” they added.