Can IVD market sustain stellar growth?

Europe’s in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market has expanded sharply since 2020, with demand for SARS-CoV-2 tests driving double-digit growth for the past two years. In 2020, total revenues for the IVD sector rose by 29.1%That striking growth rate was eclipsed by 2021’s unprecedented growth of 43.7%.

By the end of 2021, overall revenues across the European market had reached €20,670 million – an all-time high.

This data is contained in the European IVD Market Statistics Report 2022 published by MedTech Europe. It tracks market size and dynamics information, along with macroeconomic and healthcare data, for the EU-27, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – as well as the United Kingdom and Turkey.

Trawling through the numbers, our dedicated Market Data team was struck by the dramatic turnaround in the IVD market after years of stagnation. Since 2011, growth in the European IVD market has been sluggish, never exceeding 1.9%.

The turnaround owes much to the pandemic and the need to test, test, test for COVID-19. The big question we now face is whether this revenue level will likely continue. Intuitively, we might expect the numbers to revert to the mean – returning to about where we were in 2019.

But perhaps, even if the 2021 data represent a high watermark, there will be a new appreciation of the power of information. IVDs are an essential part of modern healthcare. Results from diagnostic tests influence as many as 70% of clinical decisions. Yet, IVDs account for just 1% of total healthcare expenditure in Europe. The pandemic was a lesson in the value of diagnostics.

Country-specific data

The report also provides summaries of market activity for several countries, with commentary from national medical technology trade associations. The report reveals room for growth in IVD revenues in several countries, even if they only catch up with the leaders in IVD expenditure.

So, who is leading the way? Well, while Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK have the largest IVD markets, the IVD market per capita in 2021 was the biggest in Switzerland (€88.9 per capita). In contrast, Bulgaria is the lowest spender on IVDs at just €7.2 per capita.

Regarding GDP, Germany is the leading country when it comes to general healthcare expenditure at 13.2%, followed by the UK, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden. Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Slovakia have the highest healthcare expenditure per capita.

The report drills down deep into data from a wide range of sources, providing valuable insight into a dynamic market. It points to new trends and raises questions about what the future holds for a sector that has been shaken up by a global pandemic.

Of course, these questions are best answered…by more data!