Malaysia’s healthcare sector is set to grow at an average rate of 8.4 percent over the next six years, having almost doubled since 2012 to reach an expected 11.3 billion ringgit ($2.9 billion) in 2018, consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan reported in March 2018. Overall spending on healthcare stood at 52 billion ringgit at the end of 2017 and is expected to double over the next six years.
Resilient economic growth is helping to improve affordability in the sector. Medical tourism is expected to continue its robust growth, with the country expected to capture a share of the 2 million Chinese and Indian medical travelers expected in 2018. The healthcare sector also faces challenges of technological adaption and an influx of new hospitals that could dampen the earnings of healthcare firms. Frost & Sullivan said Malaysia was well positioned to develop e-commerce platforms for healthcare, but could benefit from investing more on technology training for employees and on reaching out to healthcare consumers.