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Israel borders Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Lying within its borders are areas that the Palestinians claim as their own; the threat of terrorism dominates the political landscape.
Israel has the largest medical device market in the Middle East region. Much of the market, around 80%, is supplied by imports, and a significant portion of these in value terms are dominated by “high-end” products falling under the diagnostic imaging apparatus category. It also has important domestic manufacturing capabilities, with just under 300 medical device companies in Israel – according to Ministry of Health estimates.
In terms of expenditure, Israel spends around 7.7% of total GDP on healthcare, and per capita spending rates are considered high by regional and world standards. Much of spending is in the public sector and the government has made allowances in recent years to expand the number of services and treatment offered by public health insurance programmes. The country also has a rapidly growing elderly demographic that is contributing to rising healthcare costs and the burden of non-communicable diseases. It remains one of the most attractive investment opportunities for multinational firms in the Middle East.
As well as being a political ally, the US is one of the leading suppliers of imports, along with Germany; the two countries shipped a combined total of US$320.5 million, equal to 41.3% of total imports in 2011. The EU and the US are vital trade partners for Israel, as the country is isolated from its Arab neighbours and conducts virtually no trade with them. Israel’s most important export market is the US, with 2011 exports to the country totalling US$604.2 million. A change in US legislation, which will see an excise tax of 2.3% on all medical device imports applied to a firm’s total revenues regardless of whether or not it is profit making, will be introduced in 2013 and will affect Israeli firms’ export revenues. Israel exported US$1.7 billion worth of goods in 2011, primarily diagnostic imaging equipment, which accounted for just over 50% of exports.
Espicom estimates the medical device market in Israel to be worth US$908.0 million in 2012, equal to US$115 per capita. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.6%, during the forecast period, which should see it reach US$1,437.1 million, or US$167 per capita, by 2017.
Based on collated monthly data, imports for full-year ending May 2012 rose 8.7% over the previous corresponding period to reach US$801.1 million. All categories posted growth during the period, with the only exception being dental products, which declined by 5% year-on-year to May 2012.
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