Wheelchair exports from China broke records in 2022, recording $1.081 billion, surpassing $1 billion for the first time.
After dropping from $680 million to $729 million from 2018 to 2019, these foreign sales advanced from $635 million to $901 million from 2020 to 2021, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.
Above all, these exports were shipped to the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Spain.
Of the total foreign sales of wheelchairs, US$746 million corresponded to wheelchairs without propulsion mechanisms and the remaining US$335 million to wheelchairs with propulsion mechanisms.
After China, which leads the world in exports of these products, came Germany, with $154 million in foreign sales in 2022.
Looking ahead, as the unit price of wheelchairs is relatively lower in the PRC compared to other countries due to their relatively low labor costs and logistics expenses, the export value of wheelchairs in that nation is expected to continue to increase in the coming years.
Internally, Jin Medical International noted that China’s and Japan’s wheelchair markets are expected to increase. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of Chinese residents grew from approximately $3,387.1 in 2016 to approximately $4,576.9 in 2020, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.8 percent.
Wheelchair exports
According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, per capita household income rose from $15,361.6 in 2015 to $19,512.0 in 2019, representing a CAGR of 6.2 percent.
With rising incomes in the PRC and Japan, the living conditions of their residents have improved over the past five years and they are more willing to spend more money to improve their living conditions.
Consequently, improving living conditions have driven the growth of the wheelchair market in China and Japan.
Another driver is the increase in the elderly population. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the population aged 65 and older increased at a CAGR of 6.1 percent, from approximately 150.4 million to approximately 190.6 million from 2016 to 2020, which has increased from 10.8 percent to 13.5 percent.
According to Statistics Japan, the population aged 65 and older increased from approximately 33.66 million in 2015 to approximately 35.80 million in 2019 in Japan, representing a CAGR of 1.6 percent.
As the elderly generally experience moderate to severe level of disability due to various illnesses, injuries and chronic diseases, the demand for wheelchair products in the PRC and Japan has been increasing.
