The global wheelchair market is expected to generate $7,818.5 million revenue in 2025, progressing at a CAGR of 7.9% during the forecast period (2021–2025). The major factors leading to the significant growth of the market are increasing aging population, surging cases of spinal cord injuries (SCIs), rising disposable income, and growing awareness about wheelchair products.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturing facilities were affected owing to lockdowns across the world. Moreover, due to the continuous spreading of the coronavirus, governments of most of the countries imposed strict lockdowns for the suppression of the spread. This has also impacted the demand for wheelchairs. The disruption in supply chain and manufacturing facility have negatively impacted the wheelchair market growth. However, after reopening of plants and upliftment of several restrictions, the demand for these products will increase in coming years.
Based on type, the wheelchair industry is categorized into manual and powered. Out of these, the manual category accounted for larger revenue in 2020. This is due to the low costs of manual wheelchairs, which can cater to wider customer base with diverse financial status.
On the basis of end user, the wheelchair market is categorized into adult and pediatric. Between the two, the adult category is expected to witness faster growth during forecast period. This can be ascribed to the growing aging population, increasing number of mobility disorders in adults, and surging cases of road accidents. For instance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were around 2 billion people lived with disability, which accounted for 37.5% of the world population, in 2019; out of which majority were adults.
Based on distribution channel, the wheelchair industry is categorized into retail and e-commerce. Of the two, the retail category held larger market share in 2020. This is mainly due to the preference of customers to review the product beforehand and to choose from a wide range of products in retail stores.
Geographically, North America was the largest contributor to the wheelchair market in 2020. This is mainly attributed to the increasing number of injuries and mobility defects, high prevalence of obesity amongst the citizens, and growing geriatric population, which lead to the rising adoption of wheelchairs in the U.S. and Canada. Furthermore, the presence of a large number of key manufacturers in the region have resulted in availability of a wide range of products, which is leading to the high sale of such products.
Whereas, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) wheelchair market will witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. This can be ascribed to the factors such as rising number of geriatric patients, growing medical tourism sector, and increasing cases of chronic disorders, in the region. For instance, according to the Ministry of Tourism, India, in 2020, the medical tourism industry in the country would cross $9.0 billion mark, accounting for 20% of the global industry share.
Players in the wheelchair market have been involved in product launches to gain significant position. For instance, in December 2020, Sunrise Medical (US) LLC introduced a brand-new QUICKIE Nitrum. It is an innovative, rigid, light, and adjustable wheelchair that allows users to propel forward with least amount of effort.
Similarly, in May 2020, Invacare Corporation launched the AVIVA FX – MPS Maxx multi-position power standing system wheelchair. This wheelchair provides safety, stability, and comfort, whether it is used indoors or outdoors. This comes with small turning radius for indoor navigation and new 4Sure suspension system designed to conquer outdoor obstacles.
The major players operating in the global wheelchair market include Invacare Corporation, Sunrise Medical (US) LLC, Permobil AB, Medline Industries Inc., Yuwell-Jiangsu Yuyue medical equipment & supply Co. Ltd., Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA, Pride Mobility Products Corporation, MEYRA GmbH, Hoveround Corporation, MATSUNAGA MANUFACTORY Co. Ltd., Ki Mobility, and Etac AB.