India’s focus on complex surgeries, including cardiac procedures, organ transplants, and orthopaedics, has boosted its medical tourism sector, according to the January 2025 Tourism Watch Quarterly Report published by the World Bank Group. The report notes that initiatives like the e-Medical Visa and marketing campaigns like ‘Heal in India’ have further bolstered the industry. In 2023, the country attracted 476,000 foreign patients, which is among the highest in the world.
To secure a share in this growing industry, the World Bank Jobs Accelerator technical assistance is working with the Tamil Nadu government on both the tourism and health sectors to establish an institution to promote medical tourism, facilitate public-private dialogue, support marketing efforts and facilitate access to international health insurance markets.
The report notes that medical tourism presents a significant opportunity for middle-income countries to generate jobs and foreign exchange. Medical tourism is characterised by high expenditures per visitor, and patients are often accompanied by one or more family members, multiplying the economic impact. By nurturing medical tourism, the host countries get to enjoy spillover benefits like enhancing the quality of domestic healthcare services and strengthening competitiveness in the sector.
The report notes that the demand for medical tourism has more than doubled in the ten years between 2013 and 2023, while global health-related travel exports have grown by 70%. India, alongside Thailand, Turkey and Mexico, were some of the countries that have successfully tapped into this growing market by offering specialised treatments in various fields, the report notes. Asian Medical Tourism