According to the Federal Statistical Office, the 1160 medical technology companies were able to increase sales in the period January to August 2012 by 5.7 percent. The total revenue growth also leads to an increase of employees: for the full year 2012, employment is expected to increase by about two percent to almost 94,000 employees. Forecasts of the industry association Spectaris for 2013 assume an increase of the same magnitude (+4%). Total revenue would then amount to €22.2 billion.
Asia and the U.S. will provide growth
The increase in revenue is based largely on increases in the export business, on the basis of an export rate of 67 percent. In the period January to August 2012, international business increased by more than eight percent for the companies. For the full-year, growth in sales of six percent is expected, which would translate into overseas sales of around EUR 15 billion. Positive evolution of exports are currently occurring in Asia and a robust U.S. market. In Eastern Europe, the companies can successfully position and thus, for example, take advantage of strong markets such as Russia. The market in Western Europe is not quite as healthy, not least due to the Euro crisis.
Domestic business on the other hand has not performed as well. After sales figures in Germany in the first eight months of the year standing only 0.4 percent higher than the previous year, companies can, at best, expect stagnation for the full year 2012. Domestic sales corresponded to EUR 7.2 billion last year. One reason for this, according to Spectaris CEO Tobias Weiler, is the ongoing investment backlog in Germany.
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