Healthcare in the GCC - A Snapshot

While markets across the globe and the Gulf were facing troubled economic times, the GCC member states (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman) have witnessed a shift in the profile of the healthcare market. An ageing population, rapid urbanisation and lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular problems and obesity are on the rise in the Gulf and through the oil-driven economic boom, increased disposable incomes and spending also increase the demand for healthcare services. In 2007, McKinsey and Co. calculated the GCC healthcare expenditure to reach a total of US$60 billion by 2025; most probably an underestimate considering how both the Kuwaiti and Saudi healthcare budgets, for example, are growing.

The GCC healthcare market is projected to grow at an annual rateof 11% by 2015 with Saudi Arabia and UAE being the fastest growing markets. The demand for the number of hospital beds is expected to be 93,992 in 2015, a more than 10% increase in beds from 2010. This is in line with the current GCC average but below the US and European numbers. The demand is also down to the increasing insurance penetration in the GCC, which will result in an increase of patients opting to stay in their home country for treatment, leading to a higher demand in hospital beds. At the moment, due to the lack of beds and qualified healthcare professionals, some GCC countries send as many as 10% of all inpatients abroad for emergency care. For example, in 2009 alone, the UAE spent