_How the demand for medical tourism is boosting the UAE Healthcare sector
Over the last five years, the knock on effect of these changes has been seen in the number of hospital beds increasing from 1,448 in 2012 to 2,434 beds in 2016, registering at CAGR of 13.7% and shifting contribution by the private sector from 41% to 53% over the same period.
The market is becoming increasingly sophisticated and speciality driven due to higher degrees of awareness in the domestic market and medical tourism demand.
As a result, the market is seeing a shift in demand from general hospitals towards specialty hospitals, such as orthopaedic, long-term care facilities and mother and child. Prominent examples of such facilities are Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery and Medcare Women and Child Specialist Hospital.
"The demand for medical tourism will continue to grow and will migrate towards more specialist healthcare facilities. "
Dubai Historical Healthcare Bed Growth
Comparing Dubai in terms of number of beds per 1,000 population with developed countries (especially those that have had a strong medical tourism focus such as Singapore, UK and USA) we see that there is significant potential for growth for the healthcare sector.
Beds per 1,000 people
Dubai’s demand growth is driven by expatriates are staying in the UAE for longer periods than originally intended, and are relocating their families to benefit from the lifestyle that Dubai offers.
As per the medical tourism index, Dubai continues to strengthen its position as a medical tourism destination, ranking globally in 16th position and 1st in MENA region. By 2020, the emirate is targeting 500,000 medical tourists from 325,000 in 2016 representing a CAGR of 11.3%.
Medical tourism destination rankings for Dubai:
- Quality of services: 10th globally
- Destination environment: 18th globally
- Medical Tourism industry: 22nd globally