Medical costs in APAC to rise over the long term - report

Nearly 60% of the region expects a cost increase.

Medical costs are seen to rise over the longer term, with the growth in medical trends expected to slow globally in 2024, a report from WTW showed.

Over half of insurers in Europe (57%) and Asia Pacific (59%) anticipate higher healthcare cost increases in 2024. With 84% of insurers in the Middle East and Africa anticipating the same sentiment.

However, in the Americas, less than half of insurers  (45%) anticipate this level of cost increase.

The study also showed that after surging from 7.4% in 2022 to a high of 10.7% in 2023, the medical cost trend for 2024 is projected to decrease to a global average of 9.9%.