Hearing instrument sales on a promising high for Q1

BIHIMA has released Q1 data on hearing technology market figures for 2024 revealing continued and promising growth for the sector.

• Q1 private hearing instrument sales up 9.5% from Q4 2023 (and up 3% from Q1 2023)
• NHS sales up 13.5% from Q4 (but down 3% from Q1 2023)
• NHS sales up 13.5% from Q4 (but down 4% from Q1 2023)

BIHIMA – the British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association – has released the latest Q1 2024 data on hearing instrument sales in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (ROI), showing an increase from the final quarter of 2023.

In Q1, private UK sales rose by 10.2% (from 110,742 in Q4 2023 to 121,999 units) and NHS sales went up by 14.5% (from 399,360 to 457,362). In the Republic of Ireland, sales also increased by 5.1% (from 24,307 to 25,554).

In comparison to twelve months ago in Q1 2023, private sales have steadily grown – 3% up – however NHS and ROI sales have decreased by 4% and 3.2%.

Sales of rechargeable hearing devices are also increasing across all sectors, with numbers totalling 87% of private sales in the UK.

Speaking about the data, Paul Surridge, BIHIMA Chairman, said:

“The data for 2024 is looking promising – we’re starting the year in a good position. We’ve consistently seen more people obtaining hearing instruments and this suggests that awareness around hearing health is on the rise.

“There are some excellent campaigns currently underway from various hearing health organisations around the UK and we believe this is all contributing to the increase in hearing instrument acquisition.

“With increases in all categories over the last quarter and sales of rechargeable products showing a steady increase, we are certainly moving in the right direction. We look forward to seeing how this progresses throughout the rest of the year.”

Download the full Q1 report here. 

As a voice for hearing technology, BIHIMA regularly monitors the market and releases the results of its members every quarter. To keep up to date with the latest hearing instrument market information sign up to receive BIHIMA’s quarterly results here.