From 8.687% in 2000, the global healthcare spending as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) steadily increased to 9.857% in 2018, says the World Bank. The reasons for this are plenty, including people’s rising disposable income, governments’ efforts to modernize their medical sector and make healthcare affordable to all, and the surging prevalence of all kinds of health issues. This has been driving the demand for all kinds of medical products and the components and materials used in their manufacturing.

P&S Intelligence considers this factor to play a key role in the growth of the medical adhesives market value from $8,714.9 million in 2019 to $16,367.2 million by 2030, at a 2.3% CAGR between 2020 and 2030. Adhesives might not appear in healthcare settings as prominently as multiparameter monitors, syringes, and other common equipment, but they are vital to this sector. This is because all such medical devices and a lot of other associated products use adhesives in one or the other way.

Apart from medical devices, adhesives are used for dental and internal and external body applications and in face masks, gloves, surgical gowns, and several types of disposable and reusable personal protective equipment (PPE). This is a key reason the demand for such materials rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the surging number of infected patients sent the global healthcare fraternity into a PPE procurement frenzy. Not only healthcare firms, but individuals also bought masks in huge quantities as they were mandatory in almost all countries.

Even before the pandemic, the demand for adhesives in medical products had been high due to the increasing incidence of acute and chronic diseases, injuries, burns, violence, and accidents. This is because these formulations have been widely utilized to stop internal hemorrhage, heal wounds, and in band-aids and surgical tapes. Moreover, due to the disadvantages of surgical staples and sutures, such as scarring, post-op pain, and difficulty in removing, they are being replaced by adhesives to bond the worked-upon tissue and achieve hemostasis.

Such adhesives can be formulated from a range of resins, such as acrylic, rubber, cyanoacrylate, silicone, polyurethane (PU), epoxy, natural, polyamides, chloroprene rubber (CR) latex, and vinyl acetates. Currently, natural, or bio-based adhesives, are gaining rapid popularity because they are thought to have fewer side-effects than synthetic resins. Moreover, since they are formulated from organic stuff, they are more easily accepted by the host’s immune system, which further reduces the chances of a severe reaction. As a result, natural adhesives are finding usage in oral, orthopedic, cardiovascular, trauma, oncological, plastic, neurological and ophthalmological surgeries, and circumcision.

Therefore, North America is the largest medical adhesives market as it is home to the biggest healthcare and medical device sectors in the world. Extensive research and development (R&D) has led to the creation of many kinds of advanced adhesives for medical applications in recent years. Moreover, people’s high disposable income, complemented by favorable medical reimbursement policies, leads to a high demand for various kinds of healthcare services in the region, which boosts the demand for such materials.

Apart from North America, the consumption of such formulations is skyrocketing in Asia-Pacific (APAC), which is becoming an emerging hub for medical product manufacturing. Moreover, in order to make healthcare accessible, governments of regional countries are raising their spending on the sector. With the increasing government spending, which is leading to the construction of new healthcare centers, the demand for surgical tapes, medical tubes, syringes, needles, and PPE is surging in the region.

Hence, with the growing healthcare sector, the consumption of medical-grade adhesives will boom.