In order to support Dutch Life Sciences & Health organisations interested in France, the Task Force Health Care and Transfer LBC have been commissioned by the Netherlands Embassy in Paris to perform a market study. This market study will focus on the healthcare sector in France. Please give us your input via this link or send an email to: guido.danen@tfhc.nl
The French Healthcare market
France, with a population of nearly 68 million, is one of the largest markets in Europe. It will also be one of the oldest in the world. Around 19.5% of the population are aged 65 and over, representing 12.6 million elderly in 2016, and this number is likely to rise to 18.9 million by 2050.
Though France has relatively low precedence of obesity and diabetes, it has above average rates of smoking and a particularly high level of alcohol consumption. In part, this leads to around 3.0mn people who have or have had cancer in France and 355,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. If you look at the overall age-standardised rate for cancer, France ranks the second highests in the world, after Denmark.
Neuro-degenerative disorders (NDD) are also a growing health problem. There are around 150,000 Parkinson’s disease sufferers and 85,000 multiple sclerosis sufferers in France, in addition to 850,000 people suffering from Alzheimer’s, of whom 32,000 are aged under 65.
These are some of the challenges that the French healthcare system is dealing with. However, the French healthcare system has also been ranked in the past as a top performer by international benchmark studies and still ranks high in studies like the Euro Heart Index 2016 because of the low incidence of Cardiovascular Disease. On top of this, France is known internationally for its strong pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, the French system has recently dropped out of the top 10 of the Euro Consumer Health Index and ranks among the bottom three countries in the 2017 Commonwealth Fund International Comparison.
The information above provides just some insigths into why France may be an interesting market for the Dutch Life Sciences and Health sector. With your help, we will try to unearth the opportunities where Dutch smart solutions, knowledge and services have the highest potential for success.
