A strong life sciences sector will drive the U.K. pharmaceutical market to a value of about $43 billion by 2020, up from $28.8 billion in 2015, according to a new report from industry analyst GlobalData.
This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the medical devices market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.5 percent, from $14.4 billion in 2015 to around $17.9 billion by 2020.
The report found that the U.K.’s life sciences sector consists of just under 5,000 companies that develop, produce and market products and services in the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology markets.
GlobalData senior industry analyst Adam Dion described the pharmaceutical sector as one of the most dynamic industries in the U.K. and a major contributor to the country’s economy.
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He said: “The pharmaceutical industry was the sixth largest contributor to the U.K.’s balance of trade, contributing $46.9 billion (£32.4 billion) to the economy in 2014, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
“Research and development investment reached $5.9 billion (£4.2 billion) in 2013 in the U.K., and the industry employed more than 68,000 staff, including 23,000 scientists and doctors.”
The report stated that the U.K.’s universal health care coverage and easy access to healthcare services, along with the growing elderly population and increasing rates of disease, have provided momentum for pharmaceutical market growth.
Dion added: “The National Health Service (NHS) provides the U.K. with a robust health care system available to the entire population. This universal access to services means that the region incurs comparatively high health care costs, with expenditure in this area accounting for 8.6 percent of the GDP in 2012.”
