A fascinating study from consultants L.E.K. suggests that we will see rapid growth in healthcare tourism from China. Healthcare Nova believes that outbound tourism could transform the prospects for private operators across the region and beyond.

We report in detail on the L.E.K study here.  Sifting through much data, L.E.K reckons that at least 100,000 Chinese left the country for the primary purpose of getting healthcare in 2014. It found that, for Singapore alone, Chinese patients grew at a compound annual growth rate of 52% between 2009 and 2013.  The study goes on to look at types of tourist and at what steps operators should take to get a slice of the action.

To us, what is really interesting about the study is how low the numbers are today.  Other consultants reckon that 1.5m Indonesians spent over $11bn, an average of around $740 each, in 2014 on outbound healthcare. We know that Nigerians spent at least $1bn and almost certainly a four or five-fold multiple of that.

Many Chinese are now wealthy enough to look abroad. And, whilst care in the top tier three hospitals can be very good, we know that it is extremely hard for most Chinese to get treatment there and that there are many restrictions and shortages. These will not be fixed soon. Yes, capacity is building, but this will take several years. The hospital sector, private and public, will struggle to keep up with growing demand.

It is easy to imagine that a growing openness to traveling abroad for healthcare could eventually leave China dwarfing the $10bn Indonesians spend abroad.  After all, China has more than four times the population and much greater wealth.