More and more hard-of-hearing people get treated with hearing aids, according to The European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers’ Association’s (EHIMA) annual global sales numbers, EHIMA announced. In 2017, the six EHIMA members who are the world’s largest and leading hearing instrument manufacturers sold 15.05 million hearing aids in total. Compared to the previous year, sales grew by 5.7%.
EHIMA Data
“The hearing aid industry is at the forefront of technological progress,” said EHIMA President Anders Hedegaard. “Increasing sales numbers result from high-quality care with modern and innovative hearing aids fitted by professional audiologists. Therefore, we can see that the acceptance and satisfaction of hearing aids improve.”
By comparison, hearing aid net unit sales in the United States grew by 3.4% in 2017, with a 4.0% growth rate for the commercial/private sector and 0.92% for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), according to statistics generated by the Hearing Industries Assn (HIA), Washington, DC. The British and Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA) reported that the NHS market in the UK saw gains of 3.7% with the private market 4.0% for 2017 compared to 2016.
EHIMA expects that the awareness of hearing loss will increase in the coming years as the world’s population grows and ages and as more people become aware of the correlation of hearing loss and other health conditions, such as dementia. With hearing aids, EHIMA members are said to offer a high-quality and cost-effective solution that helps hard-of-hearing people to reduce these risks, to stay independent, and to fully participate in society.
EHIMA represents the six major European hearing instrument manufacturers, producing up to 90% of the hearing aids manufactured in Europe. EHIMA was founded in 1985 and its members are among the world’s largest and most advanced hearing aid manufacturers. Members of EHIMA develop, manufacture, and market hearing instruments on a large scale in one or more countries in Europe as well as exporting their products worldwide.
