Diabetes Management: Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market

According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), approximately 425 million adults (20-79 years of age) have diabetes worldwide, and this number is expected to rise nearly 50% to approximately 629 million by 2045. More than 1.25 million people have type 1 diabetes in the US alone.

Blood glucose monitoring is essential for people with diabetes to lower the risk of complications.  It is particularly important for those with type 1 diabetes, but also in people with type 2 diabetes who frequently administer insulin and/or suffer from symptomatic blood sugar fluctuations.

Blood glucose monitoring devices include both traditional handheld blood glucose meters (BGMs) used by patients at home and by healthcare practitioners at the point-of-care, and new sophisticated continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMs) used by type 1 and insulin-dependent type 2 diabetics.

Valued at nearly $8bn in 2018, the global Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices (BGMDs) Market is growing at a fast pace—at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 11%—due to the phenomenal sales growth of new revolutionary CGMs, such as Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre and Dexcom’s G6 CGM. The market is expected to total nearly $13bn by 2023­. Growth of CGMs will be offset by a steady decline in the BGMs segment due to continued extreme price competition/downward pricing pressure, lowered test-strip reimbursement, and market saturation of lower-cost meters, among other factors.

The overall BGMDs market is being driven by several positive factors, including:

• strong demand for discreet, accurate CGM devices that provide convenient blood glucose monitoring 24/7 and eliminate frequent/cumbersome and painful fingersticks
• steadily increasing awareness and adoption of new, next-generation CGMs (by Abbott and Dexcom) driven by strong sales/marketing/advertising and physician referrals
• solid clinical outcomes due to the ability to improve the accuracy of insulin delivery and improve glycemic control or time-in-range (TIR) via continuous (24/7) glucose monitoring
• the ability to integrate lucrative CGM sensors into fast-growing next-generation hybrid closed-loop insulin pump systems (eg MiniMed 670G, Tandem’s t:slim, and future pump systems; see below Insulin Pumps report)
• better patient awareness and physician understanding of glucose trends and impact of diet/medication/exercise/lifestyle factors due to the use of smartphone-driven digital health coaching apps, resulting in improved diabetes management
• ability to lower overall healthcare costs
• solid reimbursement
• low CGM market penetration (due to newness of technology), leaving much room for market growth in a large and expanding diabetes population
• sales of lucrative recurring CGM disposables (eg sensors) and accessories.

This comprehensive medical market and technology report provides:

• prevalence of diabetes
• BGM/CGM product portfolios and technical innovations
• product pipelines/emerging technologies/startups
• trends and opportunities
• market drivers and limiters
• market and competitive analysis—including 5-year global and regional market forecasts, global/regional market share (2018), company overview, financials, and strategic growth plans.

Markets covered by this analysis include the US, Japan, the five major EU markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), and the Rest of World (RoW) markets, which includes all other countries. Market forecasts are for the 2018-23 time period. 

Note: This is the second report in the Meddevicetracker Diabetes Management report series. See the first report (published September 2019): Diabetes Management: Insulin Pumps Market.