Overview

Austria’s healthcare system is considered one of the best in Europe, providing nearly universal access and excellent outcomes. Infant mortality is low (2.7/1,000), and life expectancy is high (78.8 for men and 83.8 for women). Overall healthcare spending rose sharply in 2021, followed by a modest gain of 3.4% to $54.4 billion in 2022. That corresponds to 11.4% of GDP. Spending on medical devices climbed over 7% in USD terms to $3.76 billion in 2022.

Medical Devices Market Size, million USD

Austrian medical equipment imports were valued at $3.08 billion in 2021 (the last year for which figures are available). The EU supplies around 85% of Austria’s medical technology, and Germany alone captures 34% of the total. Other strong suppliers are the Netherlands, China, and Belgium. U.S. products make up less than 3% of Austria’s import market, a significant decline over the past 5 years. Reasons include supply chain disruptions and adjustments due to Covid, a strict new CE certification regime (MDR/IVDR), and the increasing competitiveness of both German and Chinese suppliers.

Market Drivers and Constraints

Austria’s medical device market is driven by three main factors: 1) an aging population and the accompanying increasing burden of disease; 2) high smoking and alcohol consumption rates paired with a sedentary lifestyle that increases the risk of cancer, lung disease, heart disease, kidney disease, and diabetes; and 3) well-established and high-quality universal health coverage that can finance the population’s health needs. The three key constraints for U.S. exports are 1) bottlenecks in CE certification caused by difficulties with the implementation of the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) / In-Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR) of 2017; 2) slow economic growth, and 3) the modest size of the population and natural financial constraints of a universal social insurance system.

Healthcare System

Austria has a statutory national health insurance program that covers 99% of the population through mandatory employer and employee contributions. Five non-competitive national carriers cover all Austrians based on profession and work status. All government employees, for example, pay into and are covered by the same national carrier. In addition to the mandatory public healthcare system, around 30% of the population uses supplemental private insurance. For those with additional insurance and those willing to pay out of pocket, a growing network of private physicians and clinics offer more flexible opening hours, shorter wait times, and well-known specialists. They also provide services not covered by statutory public insurance. Private providers may be partially reimbursed by public insurance depending upon the procedure.

In-patient treatment accounts for around 33% of Austrian healthcare spending. With its 271 hospitals and 62,873 available beds, Austria has one of the highest hospital bed/population ratios in the world. Around 65% of hospital beds are in general hospitals, with 26% in specialized clinics and rehabilitation centers, and 7% in sanatoriums or long-term care facilities.

Business Trends

Around 550 companies in Austria produce or sell medical technologies, of which 171 are manufacturers and 383 are distributors or service providers. Austria’s medical manufacturers include a handful of large national companies with global operations such as MedEl (cochlear implants), Greiner Bio One (blood collection, bioscience, and diagnostics), Semperit (surgical and examination gloves), subsidiaries of multinational corporations such as GE Healthcare and Siemens Healthineers, as well as Austrian SMEs and healthcare tech start-ups. A directory of Life science companies active in Austria is listed in the Life Science Directory.

• Leading Sub-Sectors
• Minimally invasive surgery, including computer-aided surgical products and equipment
• Health IT and digital health, especially telehealth, patient interface solutions, remote monitoring, disease management, and interoperability solutions
• Dental devices and consumables
• Products and devices for the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of aging, especially screening and diagnostic technologies, cardiovascular diagnosis and treatment, bone health, oncology, orthopedics, dementia care, mobility solutions, artificial joints, etc.

Opportunities

• Renovation and modernization of the Vienna General Hospital: Vienna’s General Hospital, together with the city’s Medical University, is currently undergoing a massive modernization and renovation project with a budget of $2.1 billion between 2020-2030. The project is wide-ranging and includes several new buildings, a heart-thorax center, a day surgery center, new OP and ICU facilities, and more.
• Digitalization: The Covid-19 pandemic showcased the advantages of digital health solutions, particularly telemedicine and remote monitoring, as well as tracking, prescription, and patient record apps. As the healthcare system sets its objectives for a post-Covid system, digitalization will play an important role.
• Primary Care Centers: The Austrian government has made the expansion of primary care centers a central element of its healthcare investment plan. Incentives are offered with a value up to half of the total investment to practice groups who agree to open a multi-physician center that complies with certain rules. The stated aim is to open 70 new centers across Austria by 2026.
• Aging Population: Austria’s aging population is creating growing demand for age-related care and equipment including dental instruments, diagnostic technologies, cardiovascular monitoring, mobility solutions, and artificial joints, among others. Aging in place is another part of the puzzle, as seniors seek to live in their homes as long as possible.

Resources

Statistik Austria (Austrian Statistics Office): https://www.statistik.at/en

LISA Austria (Austrian Life Sciences Cluster): https://www.lifescienceaustria.at/

Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz (Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection): https://www.sozialministerium.at/

AustroMed (Austrian Association of Medical Device Companies): https://www.austromed.org/

MedTech Europe (Org. of European Medical Technology Associations): https://www.medtecheurope.org/

Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (Austrian Federal Institute for Health): https://goeg.at/

Dachverband der österreichischen Sozialversicherungsträger (Association of Austrian Social Insurance Carriers): https://www.sozialversicherung.at

FEEI (Austrian Association for the Electric and Electronics Industries): https://www.feei.at/ 

U.S. Commercial Service Austria, Healthcare Specialist, Marta Haustein, marta.haustein@trade.gov