Medical tourism growth in Singapore is expected to slow down in the middle of stiffer regional competition, especially from the Malaysian healthcare market. This is projected in a decline in growth of foreign patient numbers. This, in turn, is expected to take a toll on growth in revenue.
Foreigners made up 40 per cent of healthcare provider IHH Healthcare’s business in Singapore in 2013, but this fell to 30 per cent last year. Its quarterly revenue growth in the same period has also declined from an average of 5 per cent year on year between 2013 and 2014, to between 1 per cent and 2 per cent year on year from 2015 to last year.
Patients are flocking to Malaysia due to factors such as improvements in infrastructure and service quality, as well as the relatively lower hospital bills.
A report earlier this month said that Singapore is the second-priciest medical tourism destination in the world, and the most expensive in Asia.
