Hearing instrument market recovery continues following first lockdowns in UK and Ireland

Growth for the private market from July to September, with units up 13.6% on Q3 last year, is reported by the British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA). The year-to-date (YTD) picture, however, is still not making good reading: down 26.3%.

Devastated NHS sales begin to pick up

Meanwhile, NHS recovery has started, with 195,551 units sold – up from 52,142 in Q2 – but is still slow, with Q3 down 48.6% on Q3 2019 and down 50.1% on the year to date (YTD).

Ireland

Ireland's recovery has been faster than the UK's, with Q3 up 14.4% on Q3 2019 and YTD figures down by only 12.8%.

Trends

In trends per hearing aid type, BIHIMA also reports an increase in sales of ITE (In The Ear) custom aids at 16.5% compared to 10.5% in Q3 2019. The demand for CIC (Completely In The Canal) and IIC (Invisible In The Canal) custom aids has fallen this year, with sales in Q3 at 5.3% compared with 10.1% in Q3 2019. This falls into line with a trend reported by BIHIMA for Q1.

"Our industry is recovering from the effects of lockdown, but the impact on figures due to reduction in activity and continued restrictions remains, especially in the NHS. Ireland and the UK private market have shown significant growth – we hope to see this continue into Q4 and predict NHS numbers will increase further as the pressures of the pandemic ease," said BIHIMA chairman, Paul Surridge.

Source: BIHIMA