Key View
- We have maintained our forecast compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for Japan’s medical devices market and project that the market will grow by a 2022-2027 CAGR of 4.1% in local currency terms and 6.9% in US dollar terms.
- Diagnostic imaging will remain Japan’s largest product area over our forecast period, driven by the integration of technologies such as data automation and AI.
- Japan will continue to be a significant medical device exporter, but a slowdown in global economic growth in 2024 will place downward pressures on medical device exports.
We have maintained our forecast and project that Japan’s medical device market will record a 2022-2027 compound annual growth rate of 4.1% in local currency terms and 6.9% in US dollar terms. This will take the value to JPY828.2bn (USD7.2bn) by 2027. We expect that orthopaedics & prosthetics will be the fastest growing product category, but this will be from a smaller base compared to most other product categories. Diagnostic imaging and other medical devices will remain the largest product categories over the forecast period. The main growth drivers of the medical device market will be Japan’s large and expanding elderly population and high prevalence of non-communicable disease. These factors will ensure a sustained, long-term demand for healthcare services and medical devices. The integration of new technologies in medical devices and healthcare settings, including data automation and artificial intelligence (AI), will continue to be a feature of Japan’s medical devices market. Slowing economic growth in Japan will pose downside risks to the market in 2024. We expect Japan’s real GDP growth will ease to 1.0% in 2024, down from a projected 1.3% in 2023. Continued global headwinds such as weaker economic growth in other developed markets and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war are also likely to weigh on demand for Japan’s medical device exports in 2024.