Hearing aid market Brexit decline

The British and Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA) has released the Q2 2019 results of its members, revealing a sharp decline in UK hearing aid unit sales following Brexit safety stock purchases.

According to the Association, NHS sales dropped by 24 percent from Q1 2019, a figure which the BIHIMA says can be partially attributed to the unusually high volume of sales in the previous quarter, up 34.7 percent on Q1 2018 due to NHS no-deal Brexit stockpiling.

This resulted in an inevitable drop off in activity in Q2 says the BIHIMA, with NHS units down to 329,801.

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Alongside the NHS decline, results from Ireland show a similar sharp drop off from the beginning of the year, with the data reporting the number of units sold falling by 18 percent, from 16,200 in Q1 2019 to 13,169 in Q2.

Despite the decline in the NHS however, private sales of hearing instruments in the UK are continuing to perform strongly, with sales up 4.4 percent in Q1, from 82,573 to 86,250 units sold.

“The security of our supply chains – many of our members manufacture outside the UK – means our industry is in a robust position, even in these uncertain political times when many other markets are under threat,” commented Paul Surridge, Chairman of the BIHIMA.

“We are encouraged by the continued growth of the UK private sector, as well as by the precautionary measures taken by the NHS in their stock purchases and we anticipate the NHS market will return to full strength in the near future.”

Tracking the trends of styles of technology being selected by patients in the private sector, the BIHIMA Q2 data highlights that RITE (receiver in the ear) technology continues to dominate the market, now representing 75 percent of sales.

Having shown huge decline in recent years, BTE (behind the ear) devices have shown a slight improvement in 2019 points out the Association, holding at around 3 percent of market share.

In contrast, there has been a marked decrease in the numbers of ITE (in the ear) products sold, down to 11.4 percent in Q2 2019 from 15.5 percent in the same quarter last year.

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https://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Hearing-Aid-market-UK-and-Ireland-Brexit.jpghttps://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Hearing-Aid-market-UK-and-Ireland-Brexit-150x150.jpgCalvin BarnettNewsroomReports & ResearchBIHIMA,Brexit,British and Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association,BTE,decline,hearing aids,hearing instruments,ITE,NHS,no-deal,private market,RITEThe British and Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA) has released the Q2 2019 results of its members, revealing a sharp decline in UK hearing aid unit sales following Brexit safety stock purchases. According to the Association, NHS sales dropped by 24 percent from Q1 2019, a figure which the...News, views & products for mobility, access and independent living professionals