By A. Stephanie
Karthik Rajan
Malaysia’s revenue from medical tourism is set to grow 14 times from US$188.7 million (RM692.3 million) in 2013 to US$2.65 billion by 2020, global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan said today.
A large number of these receipts will be from intra-Asean tourists, as Malaysia and the region’s middle income group swells in five years.
“Malaysia’s middle class is expected to grow from 37% of the 29.7 million population currently to 59% of the projected 2020 population of 32.4 million,” the firm’s vice president for public sector and government consulting Karthik Rajan said, adding the Asean population is expected to grow in tandem with this.
Hazmi Yusof
Frost & Sullivan Malaysia country head Hazmi Yusof remarked: “The growth of the middle class will swell as populations grow, and historically we have seen a big chunk of income go towards healthcare and wellness expenditure.
“This could be seen in America and Europe, and we expected Malaysian healthcare expenditure to move more towards preventive health services such as tests and screenings, from therapeutic care,” he added.
Regarding Malaysia’s ability to capture the growing medical tourism market, he noted: “Singapore will still continue to the first tier high income segment of medical tourists, but looking at Malaysia’s entire healthcare ecosystem, with our Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) and aged care facilities in place, we are very much in the driving seat to capture the middle income market.”
Rajan added that in Malaysia retains its comparative advantage of cost in relation to Singapore in both medical tourism and high-tech manufacturing, the latter being another sector expected to contribute to increased revenue come 2020.
The firm launched its latest research report titled ‘Mega Trends Malaysia’ today in Kuala Lumpur, and health, wellness and wellbeing was one of the three sectors highlighted at the briefing.
The report forecasted that healthcare spending in Malaysia will be valued around US$27.7 billion in 2020, with healthcare expenditure per capita rising from US$520 currently to about US$800 in five years.
This growth will be buffeted by the medical tourism and senior-living industry, Frost & Sullivan said.
Medical tourists are expected to account for 4.5% of total tourists in 2020, generating revenue of RM9.72 billion. Currently, 72 healthcare facilities and hospitals have registered with the Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council to participate in medical tourism.
The aged industry, meanwhile, is expected to reach US$1.4 billion in size by 2020, the report noting that 19,488 retirees from 120 countries have moved to Malaysia since 2020, as part of programmes like MM2H.
Following on that, retirement villages are to be built in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Ipoh, and Johor Bahru, positioning Malaysia as the “retirement capital of Asia”, Frost & Sullivan noted.
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