The Brief “France: Medical Equipment Market” published July 2013 by the Department of Commerce’s U.S Commercial Service, puts the total market demand in France for medical equipment at USD 6.987 billion in 2013 with imports accounting for USD 3.699 billion.
France ranks among the top five largest medical device markets in the world. France spends three percent of total health expenditure on medical equipment and supplies and 0.3 percent of GDP which is average for a West European country.
The overall market is generally well developed, however, certain sub-sectors providing the more innovative forms of technology still provide opportunities in the medical equipment market. The public sector is the largest purchaser of diagnostic therapeutic and surgical equipment but the private sector is also a dynamic player,
The diagnostic sub-sector represents 35 percent of the total medical equipment market. State-of-the-art diagnostic medical imaging systems are in great demand. Applications for technology already exists for pediatrics, cardio-vascular care, digestion, urology, and for spinal/nerve treatments. It is anticipated that the demand for this type of technology will continue to grow.
Healthcare professionals are very optimistic about a feature in medical imagery equipment known as “image networking”. This technology will dramatically improve diagnostics by providing an image data bank to enable a specialist to compare the image of a current case to hundreds of previous cases.
Specific demand in the medical equipment market includes;
- All types of disposable medical products and equipment
- Surgery instruments and supplies representing approximately 17 percent of the total sector
- Medical prosthesis, with eight percent of the total medical equipment market poised to need internal prosthesis for knees, hips, ligaments, and elbows with a slightly decreasing market for external prosthesis
- Intensive care equipment such as respiratory monitoring pumps and incubators representing about 8 percent of the total medical equipment market
The medical manufacturing industry has seen foreign companies enter the market. With lagging domestic production in several sectors, the French medical device market is increasingly reliant upon imports which now accounts for around 50 percent of consumption.
The emergence of alternatives to traditional short stays in hospitals has resulted in an increase in ambulatory medicine and home care. With the development of short stays in hospitals, there is now a greater demand for a whole new range of medical equipment to be used outside the hospital.
To export medical devices to France, a foreign producer should have an agent/distributor. Also, medical devices in the French market whether they are imported or domestically manufactured must obtain the CE mark.
The largest medical trade event “Les SALONS de la SANTE et de l’AUTONOMIE” is going to be held in Paris on May 20-22, 2014. This event will be a Hospital and Medical Equipment Exhibition with 817 exhibitors drawing over 30,000 visitors throughout Europe.
For more information, go to www.buyusainfo.net/docs/x_7722162.pdf or contact the U.S Commercial Service Specialist at the American Embassy Alain Levy at Alain.Levy@trade.gov, call +33(0) 1 43 12 70 14 or go to http://export.gov/france .