Jennifer Mendoza
Research expert covering health, pharma and medtech
Medical technology in Latin America – statistics & facts
Medical technology plays an essential role in health care, allowing for improved health services through medical equipment and other related technologies. In Latin America, the revenue of the medical technology market was estimated at more than 44 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, the highest share accounted for by medical devices, with over 80 percent of the total value. Cardiology and medical imaging equipment were the leading categories within this segment. That year, in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) made up 20 percent of the medical technology market revenue.
Specialized medical equipment in the region more frequently includes other diagnostic imaging devices such as computed tomography (CT) scanners, mammography systems, and C-arms, found in 25, 19, and 12 percent of Latin American hospitals, respectively. Less commonly available devices include systems such as linear accelerators and robotic surgery equipment.
Health equipment in Latin American hospitals
ECGs, ultrasounds, and X-ray machines are the most common medical devices found in Latin American hospitals, present in an estimated 83, 71, and 68 percent of hospitals in the region, respectively. ECG machines are used to measure the electrical activity of the heart and aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of certain heart conditions. Ultrasound and X-ray machines are diagnostic imaging devices and allow for more accurate clinical analysis of internal structures.Specialized medical equipment in the region more frequently includes other diagnostic imaging devices such as computed tomography (CT) scanners, mammography systems, and C-arms, found in 25, 19, and 12 percent of Latin American hospitals, respectively. Less commonly available devices include systems such as linear accelerators and robotic surgery equipment.
Significant differences between countries
In practice, the availability of these devices varies widely from country to country, and from category to category. As of 2022, for instance, Brazil had an estimated 29.99 CT scanners per million inhabitants, making it the country with the highest CT scanner density in the region, followed by countries such as Chile, Uruguay, and Belize. In contrast, the density of these systems in Haiti amounted to roughly 0.29. In the case of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, Brazil, Chile, and Suriname led the ranking, while Colombia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador had the lowest density in the region.
