European Medical Device Market The global medical device market is valued at 184 billion euros (EUCOMED 2004). According to EUCOMED the US accounts for 43% of the global market and the EU accounts for 30% of the world market. The EU market for medical devices is estimated to be more than 55 billion euros. The five largest EU markets and their respective share of the 55 billion euros plus market are as follows: Germany (34.7%), France (16.4%), Italy (11.2%), UK (10.6%), and Spain (5.5%). While the ten new EU member countries add 75 million people to the EU population (total population of approximately 450 million) collectively they will represent only about 2.7% of the total EU market for medical devices (EUCOMED 2004, Marchant 2003). The ten new member countries average spending on healthcare is only 4.9% of GDP, compared with 8.6% for the original 15 EU member countries. As these markets develop and spend a larger percentage of GDP on healthcare they will likely represent a growing portion of the EU market opportunity. The fragmented nature of the EU market and lack of reliable EU market data has resulted in the European Commission’s commissioning of a study to be conducted by the University of Siena. There are 9345 medical technology companies competing for market share in EU (Marchant 2003). The EU market for medical devices is expected to continue to grow largely driven by an aging population and the subsequent increase in demand for medical devices. Medical devices that have been recognized by the European Parliament and Member States for making contributions to improved healthcare include interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease, stroke management, cancer, musculoskeletal disorders, and wound care (Review 2003). Copyright © 2004 Kirk Zeller, All rights reserved