GERMANY - Medical Device Industry and Demographic Data
Shown below you will find some basic demographic and economic data on Germany, plus information specific to the medical device and healthcare industry.
Capital city of Germany: Berlin
Total area: 356854 km²
Population of Germany: 82.3 million
Currency: euro
Language of Germany: German
Structure of German population:
0-14 years: 13.7%
15-64 years: 66.1%
65 years and over: 20.2% (2009 est.)
Healthcare expenditure: $3 515 per capita (at int. $ rate, 2007 data)
Number of hospitals in Germany: public 1446, private 637 (2008 data)
Healthcare financing: German hospitals are financed on a so-called dual system. Inpatient service is based on the DRG system and outpatient is on a fee-for-service schedule.
Medical device industry in Germany: The German medical market has been the biggest market in Europe (31 % of the total European production) for many years and ranks as third worldwide. In 2008, the German medical device market was estimated at $12.4 billion. In 2006, €21 billion were spent on medical devices; €15.9 billion in domestic sales; €10.2 billion in export sales (64% export ratio). Additional facts about German medical market:
- Over 15000 patents in medical technology were registered in 2006;
- 7% annual increase in turnover over the last 10 years;
- 86% of domestic products is exported;
- An average of 9 % of annual sales is in corporate investment in R&D.
The German medical market is more favorable for reusable medical devices than for disposables due to high environmental awareness. The medical market is characterized by 50 multinational groups and many small and mid-sized companies (86% of all companies have less than 100 employees). Among the world players situated in Germany belong B. Braun Melsungen, Dräger Medical, Fresenius, Otto Bock, and Siemens Medical Solutions.German manufacturers are dominant in surgical instruments and imaging technology.
When entering Germany you also need to be aware that you may run into a lot of locally produced competing products. Because of the size of the market you may end up with more than one distributor. When choosing a single distributor it is good to find out how many sales people they have on the road to make sure they cover the whole country.