Q2 Lockdown battering of UK and Irish hearing market confirmed by manufacturers' data: 85% and 70% falls respectively

The British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA) has published the second quarter results of its members for this coronavirus-blasted year. Shutting down business under government lockdown strategies adopted to deal with the pandemic resulted in an 85% reduction in hearing device sales for the UK from Q1 to Q2, and a 70% fall in volumes for Ireland for the same period.

"Not surprisingly," says BIHIMA, "UK figures were significantly down on the same period last year with fewer than 60,000 units sold compared to over 400,000 in Q2 2019."

While the NHS market showed a vertiginous drop of 84.2% compared to the same period in 2019, the reduction in activity in the private (non-NHS) sector was even more catastrophic, at 91.8%, compared to Q2 2019.

BIHIMA chairman, Paul Surridge, stated: “Our industry has responded admirably to the pandemic, carefully balancing the need for provision with patient safety, but reduction in activity due to lockdown and continued restrictions has had a significant impact on our figures. These are challenging times, but we hope to see an increase into Q3 as services resume, and we look forward to our numbers returning to normal as swiftly as possible.”

New restrictions, potentially leading to further lockdown measures were announced by the government on the day BIHIMA released these Q2 figures.

Source: BIHIMA