Healthcare system: in the third quarter of 2018 the robust growth of world trade continued

The cooling of international trade is only marginally affecting the healthcare industry

Based on the pre-estimates made by StudiaBo, in the third quarter of 2018 the global export of pharmaceuticals and medical products¹ recorded a Year-Over-Year increase of +7.9% at constant prices (source: SIUlisse), only partially decelerating compared to the very dynamic previous quarters.
This is once again a performance that is far more favorable than the average of manufactured goods (whose world exports showed a trend growth of + 3% at constant prices in the last quarter, a significant slowdown compared to the previous quarter), demonstrating the lower vulnerability of this sector to the economic cycles and specific factors of growth, such as the aging of the population in high-income countries and the increasing availability of spending by the poor in the population in developing countries.
In cumulative terms, in the first 9 months of 2018 the world exports of pharmaceuticals and medical products increased by more than 12 percentage points at constant prices compared to the same period of 2017.

United States by far the leading market in the Healthcare system ...

The greatest contributions to the growth of world sales in the most recent period are, once again, attributable to sales to the US market. As documented in the MarketBarometer tool³, the US market showed a trend growth of 16% in euro values, further accelerating compared to the already favorable performance of the previous quarter.

Imports of pharmaceuticals and medical products
United States	Germany

.. .. with confirmations of competitiveness of Italian exports.

Furthermore, on the US market Italy continues to be the most dynamic competitor, even faster than traditional partners like Ireland, Germany and Switzerland.
Similarly, on the German market, which in the third quarter of 2018 reached a new high point in imports of pharmaceuticals and medical products, it should be noted the positive growth performance of Italian sales, together with those from the Netherlands.

1 The industry analyzed in this article groups the following sectors: Drugs, medicaments, Syringes, prostheses and other products for healthcare, Medical and dental instruments and equipment, Electro-medical equipment, Microscopes. See the list in the following industry's description.
2 The MarketBarometer tool allows to monitor, for a given industry (sector / product), the imports' trend of the various international markets, with details for the main competitors (partner countries) on the market. The information provided is expressed in terms of indexed values, in order to allow a comparative benchmarking.
For a better understanding of the tool, please refer to the MarketBarometer's User Guide.