According to Singapore Business Review, a new report by RHB Research says that the rising cost of healthcare in Singapore is increasingly diminishing the city’s attractiveness as a medical tourism hub with patients opting to turn to neighbouring countries for their medical needs.
The article quotes analyst Juliana Cai saying “As healthcare costs in neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Thailand are much lower, they have been attracting medical tourists from the region – thereby eating into Singapore’s market share.”
The strengthening of the Singapore Dollar against regional currencies also adds to the already expensive cost burden even as healthcare providers in other countries have been investing in the quality of their services whilst keeping costs down.
“Although there is no official data on the number of medical tourists, our channel checks with the companies under our coverage suggest that these numbers have been declining year on year. We believe this is a structural problem, and will continue to impact the Singapore players in the near term,” added Cai.
For an in-depth analysis of the medical tourism sector in Singapore, visit the IMTJ Country Profile.
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