August 29th, 2022, Janice Fernandes
Rising costs, cultural/linguistic differences or unavailable/unapproved procedures are among some of the reasons people choose to travel for medical procedures. We ask consumers in Great Britain and the US how likely they are to travel for medical purposes in the next 12 months and for which treatment they would choose to travel.
Latest data from YouGov Profiles reveals that a plurality of consumers in both markets are not likely to travel for medical purposes in the next 12 months. While around three in five Britons (61%) say they are not at all likely to travel, Americans are significantly less likely to say the same – 47%.
Nearly one in ten Americans are very likely to travel (9%), while similar proportions of consumers pick ‘likely’ (8%) and ‘somewhat likely’ (11%).
In comparison, two-thirds of Britons (6%) say they are very likely to travel for medical reasons in the next 12 months. Less than one in ten are ‘somewhat likely’ to travel (8%), while only 5% pick ‘likely’.
In both markets, among consumers who picked very likely, likely and somewhat likely to travel for medical purposes in the next 12 months, around a quarter would go for dental procedures - 24% in US and 28% in GB. Lack of insurance coverage could be one of the reasons why consumers from these markets would go to a different city or country for their dental needs.
Americans who are likely to travel for medical procedures are slightly more likely than Britons to make the journey for eye surgery, rehabilitation, weight loss treatment, organ transplant, alternative medicine and cosmetic surgery.
On the other hand, Britons are more likely to travel for cancer treatment, orthopedics and fertility services.
Over one in ten medical travelers in both markets would travel for cardiovascular surgery in the next 12 months (13% each).
Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for US and Great Britain is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.
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