Market Overview

In 2018, the medical-related outsourcing business market in Japan (based on the sales at businesses) as a total of 5 business fields attained 1,703 billion yen, 1.2% increase from the previous year. Looking back on the past, the market size in 2000 was 1,105 billion yen; compared to 2000, the market size in 2018 expanded significantly by 54.1%.

Meanwhile, in the last 3 years, the market increase remained marginal.

Noteworthy Topics

Sterilization Outsourcing Services in 2018 Grew 3.7 Times More Compared to 2000

In 2018, the sterilization outsourcing services market achieved 3.7 times the size in 2000, indicating the highest level of growth in the 5 fields of medical-related outsourcing market.


The sterilization outsourcing market can be classified into on-site outsourcing, a service operated within the client facility, and off-site outsourcing, a service operated at the vendor’s service center. While comprehensive outsourcing services (end-to-end outsourcing services) place importance on off-site operations, from the view of fulfilling the medical institution’s detailed requirements, on-site services and on-and-off site hybrid services are also in high demand. Penetration rate of outsourcing is assumed to be high among the large hospitals in metropolitan areas, and how to provide the services to the hospitals in provincial areas will be the challenge for the future.

Future Outlook

Although the medical-related outsourcing market has achieved high growth in the past, the outsourcing rate in general is in the saturation trend. Considering decrease in the number of hospitals and tightening control over soaring medical expenditures, if the market stays in the existing framework, business growth is difficult to expect.


Needs to expand the range and contents of the outsourcing services will increase among the medical-related outsourcing service vendors. Participation in the hospital’s management in general, differentiation by comprehensiveness and flexibility, or staffing service for core medical areas and provision of services in the field of preventive care, are likely to become important hereafter.

Research Outline