Is medical tourism really 9% of GDP?

In my pursuit of the truth in terms of medical tourism numbers (you know I have an obsession about this…), I came across this gem this week.

In my pursuit of the truth in terms of medical tourism numbers (you know I have an obsession about this…), I came across this gem this week.
It was posted on the IMTJ LinkedIn forum and the source was a news article promoting the potential of the Caribbean as a medical tourism destination.
Here’s the article: “Economic growth potential from medical tourism”
And here is what it said:
“In 2011, the total impact of the medical tourism industry contributed nine per cent of global GDP and accounted for 255 million jobs in the world. In the next decade, medical tourism is expected to grow by an average yearly of four per cent, contributing up to 10 per cent of future global GDP. Eventually, by 2022, it is estimated that 328 million jobs will be created in the medical tourism industry: equal to 10 per cent of jobs in the world”
It’s plainly barmy.
Let’s put these numbers in perspective:

• Healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP in developed countries is around 9% to 11%.
• 255 million jobs is 150 times the number of people employed in the UK’s National Health Service

If it’s on CNN, it must be true?

If you do a Google search, you’ll see that these “facts” are being given credibility in many other places.

• In a CNN News article entitled, “Medical tourism: A global stampede for affordable care” you’ll see that “medical tourism contributed 9 percent of global GDP (more than US$6 trillion) and accounted for 255 million jobs in 2011”.
• It’s in an article by Jason Frederick Emert of the University of Miami School of Law. He’s a lawyer, so I’m sure he checks his facts.
• And no doubt these facts will soon be popping up in presentations at medical tourism conferences around the world.

So what’s the truth?

Someone, somewhere… took this statistic from a World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) report:
“In 2011, the total impact of the tourism industry contributed nine per cent of global GDP and accounted for 255 million jobs in the world.”
And they tampered with it. They added in the word “medical” in front of tourism.
No-one thought to question how ridiculous this claim was until now. So… own up! Step forward, and say “Forgive me, IMTJ, for it was me….”
There you have it. Never believe what you read on the web… and if it relates to medical tourism numbers, always question it!