NHS hearing aid purchases increase by 151k (61%) on the first quarter of last year

The first quarter of 2022 is another record quarter for the UK Private Hearing Instrument Market

The UK Private sector continues its strong recovery from the pandemic with units up by 2.7% from the previous quarter and up 50% on Q1 2021.

NHS volumes are down by 9k (2.2%) on Q4 2021 but still up 151k (61%) on the first quarter of last year.

The Irish hearing instrument market has grown 13% over the last quarter with a 3k increase in sales since Q4 21. Volumes are up 57% on Q1 21.

The UK private sector continues to become more sustainable – the UK non-NHS sector continues to move away from traditional zinc air batteries, with 73% of all units sold in Q1 having rechargeable batteries. There has been a 3% drop in rechargeable sales in the Irish market.

The NHS market still has a long way to go to catch up with the Irish and UK Private markets in terms of switching to rechargeable batteries, but there has been a slight growth from a static 0.5% in the last two quarters to 1.4% of sales being rechargeable this quarter.

Paul Surridge, BIHIMA Chairman, comments: “I’m delighted to see yet another record quarter for the UK private market, and to see there remains a steady growth of the use of rechargeable batteries in this market. The slight increase in the use of rechargeable batteries in the public sector is heartening, and I look forward to seeing this growth continue as we move forward.”

Download the Q1 2022 market data report here.

Source: BIHIMA