Did you know that diabetes is the most prevalent chronic disease in India? The country has over 75 million diabetes patients, the second highest in the world followed by China. That accounts for nearly 15% of the world’s total diabetic population. What’s even more worrisome is the fact that another 200 million people in India are pre-diabetic, or in other words, at high risk of developing diabetes in the near future. An average Indian spends INR 3.5 lakh in his/her lifetime on Type-2 diabetes care! The diabetes care market in India was pegged at a whopping $17 billion in 2021. This number is expected to more than triple to cross $59 billion within the next decade! While the numbers are a cause for concern, they also give us a sneak peek of the massive opportunities in diabetes care & management in India. This is the bittersweet story of diabetes & how it created a multi-billion dollar market in India.
Good ol’ days! (the business of nostalgia)
In this episode, Bhavjeet and Anirudh talk about nostalgia & how it can be used to create sustainable long term businesses. Check out the different ideas in the episode:
India’s struggle with diabetes began in earnest about three decades back. In 1990, the country had nearly 26 million people suffering from diabetes. Over the next three decades, the number of diabetic people in India tripled to nearly 75 million and the trend continues to get worse over time. This figure is expected to almost double to 134 million diabetic patients in India . So what really caused this sudden rise in diabetic patients in the country over the last three decades? Interestingly, the rise of diabetes in India can be directly correlated to the rise in per capita income of the nation. In 1990, India’s per capita income stood at $380. By 2016, it had risen by 340% to $1,670. Over the same period, the number of diabetic patients in India rose by 123%. This correlation between wealth and diabetes doesn’t end here - the wealthiest quintile of India has nearly 3 times the number of people suffering from diabetes compared to the lowest quintile. Physical inactivity & excessive consumption of high calorie foods can be directly linked to economic prosperity, which also exacerbates the risk of diabetes. This is why diabetes is termed as a “lifestyle disease”.
The rise of diabetes in India has in turn created a highly lucrative market for diabetic care & management in the country. An average Indian spends nearly INR 11,000 every year and nearly INR 3.5 lakh over his/her lifetime on Type-2 diabetes care. This has created a multi-billion dollar market - $17 billion in 2021 to be precise, which is expected to jump to $59 billion by 2031. The overall market for diabetes care & management can be divided into three primary categories - the lion’s share of the market comes in the form of direct expenses, such as drugs, consultation, diagnostics etc, which accounts for 65% of the market. The second biggest category is that of lifestyle expenses, such as dietary substitutes & supplements, that account for 30% of the total market. The remaining 5% of the market represents the cost of complications, like heart disease complications which are caused due to diabetes.
Although the market for diabetes care & management is already a behemoth, there is still a lot of room for growth. India is in a dire need of affordable & comprehensive diabetes care solutions. Nearly 75% of the diabetic population in India has very limited access to diabetes care due to India being an out-of-pocket spend market rather than an insurance driven market. This is even more evident in Tier 3 & 4 cities in the country where accessibility challenges are much more amplified. Only 35% diabetes patients in India are aware of the term “diabetes reversal” and only 30% (of the 35%) actually enrolled for such a program due to lack of knowledge or trust issues. All these challenges in the diabetes care & management market have also created opportunities for innovative tech enabled solutions to enter the market. Over the last few years, a handful of startups have positioned themselves as widely scalable, accessible & affordable diabetes care for Indian patients. Some of these upstarts include Beat-O, Diabliss, Zyla, Phable & AccuSure. While the market for diabetes care is heating up, there is still a lot of room for more innovative solutions to enter the market in the near future.
Diabetes is slowly becoming a silent killer, claiming several lives every year in India alone. There needs to be more awareness and acceptance among people especially tier 2 & tier 3 cities, where people are reluctant to learn about upcoming businesses and startups in the healthcare domain. Hopefully, such articles and media would slowly help in the cause.