Saudi Arabia needs to recruit at least 3,700 additional doctors by 2020, according to a new report by Colliers.
The Gulf kingdom also requires up to an extra 18,400 hospital beds, based on pessimistic population growth statistics of 1.02 percent from the World Bank.
Its Saudi Healthcare Overview 2018 report also said the country needs to invest up to $6.2 billion in healthcare real estate and a further $2.2 billion on medical fit-outs by the end of the decade.
Colliers said the healthcare market in Saudi Arabia is driven by public expenditure at 74.2 percent (2016 figures) and 25.8 percent by private sector, which is expected to increase to 28.1 percent by 2025.
Currently, the top 15 countries in the world per capita healthcare spending is between three and eight times greater than Saudi Arabia, it added.
The report said that between 2010 and 2016 the number of doctors per 1,000 population increased from 2.4 in 2010 to 2.8 while the ratio of nurses improved from 4.8 to 5.7 and number of beds per 1,000 population increased from 2.1 to 2.2.
“Recent trends and industry dynamics require operators in the healthcare sector to make challenging decisions. Whilst the healthcare system has improved across the region including Saudi Arabia the sector offers opportunities for investors/operators,” Colliers said in the report.
