Thanks to COVID-19, it’s no longer a secret to the general public just how important diagnostic testing services are to managing infectious disease outbreaks, as well as to many aspects of health care. A report released March 23 shows that the demand for testing services fueled by the current pandemic as well as other key factors will translate into continued strong growth for the global clinical lab services industry, predicting it will reach $303.1 billion USD by 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1 percent.
What Is Driving the Growth?
The report, “Clinical Laboratory Services – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics” by Global Industry Analysts, highlights the following factors driving this growth around the world:
- A growing elderly population
- Increase of chronic diseases
- The latest developments in diagnostic methods
- The drive to reduce hospitalization time and readmission rates
- Growing patient awareness of disease diagnosis
- Advances in biotechnology as well as in automation and interoperability
- Climate change
- Increasing wealth of emerging markets
In addition, the report notes that “novel test areas such as genetic tests, companion diagnostics, and molecular testing are witnessing significant growth and generating sizable revenues and margins for labs providing them.” Developments in genomics and molecular biology as well as the implementation of informatics technologies are also leading to better tests and improving lab performance, the report adds.
Which Country Holds the Biggest Share?
In terms of countries, the US clinical lab services market currently accounts for the largest share of the global market, estimated to be $118.7 billion USD in 2022 (47.38% of the total market). China is expected to reach a market size of $11.7 billion USD by 2026 at a CAGR of 7.3 percent, the report says.
Important Market Segments
In particular, the report predicts the clinical chemistry market segment will grow at a CAGR of 4.8 percent, reaching $138 billion USD by 2026. After accounting for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report says the human tumor & genetics market, which currently accounts for 21.6 percent of the global clinical lab services market, will grow at a CAGR of 4.7 percent over the next seven years. The medical microbiology & cytology segment is another one to note, expected to grow at a 7.1 percent CAGR to reach $66.2 billion USD by 2026, according to the report.