The Middle East has emerged as a growing market for insurers across the world with a rapid transformation in its insurance industry, with Saudi Arabia forecast to register the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37 percent. In the latest research study by RNCOS titled “Middle East Insurance Market Forecast to 2012”, it said “insurance premium is expected to grow at a rate of 25 percent during 2010-2013 as compared to a growth rate of 14 percent in 2007-2009.” UAE and Bahrain followed the Kingdom in the growth rate during the forecast period. The healthcare spending in Saudi Arabia is anticipated to grow robustly due to increased government efforts to develop infrastructure, said RNCOS in its new research report. Saudi Arabia represents one of the most lucrative healthcare markets in the world. The kingdom's healthcare market has recorded steady growth over the past few years. And the government, which funds most of the Kingdom's healthcare capital and operating expenditures, has budgeted an additional 51 percent for healthcare and social services in 2010 - amounting to $16.3 billion. The additional spending is largely aimed at improving the standard of healthcare services in the country and this will drive the future growth of the healthcare industry in the country. The new research report on the sector called “Saudi Arabian Healthcare Market Forecast to 2012”, the healthcare spending in Saudi Arabia is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 8 percent during 2010-2012. The report studied the Saudi Arab healthcare market by dividing it into three major segments, i.e. hospital care market, pharmaceutical market and medical device market. All these segments have been studied and analyzed in a comprehensive manner in the report. The report identified that the medical device market has the maximum potential in the overall healthcare market. Although the market is completely based on imported products which are very expensive, there is a huge demand for these medical equipment and devices, it noted.
