Brexit, With or Without Deal, Will Have a Negative Impact on the UK Healthcare Sector

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Brexit, With or Without Deal, Will Have a Negative Impact on the UK Healthcare Sector

Negative sentiment amongst healthcare professionals about the impact of Brexit on the UK healthcare sector has increased over the last 3 months, according to a new report carried out by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Brexit and the Healthcare Industry – Implications for Pharma, Q3 2018’, reveals that 59% of healthcare industry professionals now have a negative sentiment about Brexit’s impact on the UK healthcare sector, compared to only 42% who expressed the same opinion in June 2018. Healthcare professionals from the US, UK and EU took part in the survey with respondents from the EU expressing the biggest fall in Brexit confidence, with a 28% increase in negative sentiment since the previous survey.

The report is based on a quarterly survey of participants from the pharmaceutical industry, both within and outside the UK, who were asked about the impact of Brexit on the healthcare sector as well as their evolving sentiment towards Brexit.

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US, UK and EU healthcare industry survey on the implications of Brexit. Source: GlobalData

Alexandra Annis, MS, Managing Healthcare Analyst at GlobalData, commented, “One potential explanation for the increase in negative sentiment in Q3 is less clarity over the future of Brexit, especially in the EU. The Brexit process has a long way to go and is filled with uncertainty as a ‘no deal’ Brexit becomes an increasing possibility.’’

The UK pharmaceutical industry is one of the country’s largest and most dynamic sectors, and a major contributor to the economy. As well as being the home to pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, many other leading international pharmaceutical companies have sizeable operations in the UK.


59% of healthcare industry professionals now have a negative sentiment about Brexit’s impact on the UK healthcare sector, compared to only 42% who expressed the same opinion in June 2018


Annis continues, ‘‘Given the importance of the pharmaceutical industry to the UK economy, the current negativity around Brexit must be of concern. Understanding the impact of Brexit on research and manufacturing, corporate strategy, and relocation as well as tracking the evolving sentiment of Brexit’s impact on the UK healthcare industry is of significant importance to help pharmaceutical companies make the most of Britain leaving the EU.”

The report ‘Brexit and the Healthcare Industry – Implications for Pharma, Q3 2018’ provides an in-house analyst expertise on the results of a 10 minute survey of 135 GlobalData Pharma clients and prospects fielded from October 3, 2018 to October 19, 2018. Participants answered questions about how they expected Brexit to affect the healthcare sector, both within and outside of the UK, and will be repeated at the end of Q4 this year, to gauge the changing sentiment towards Brexit from within the healthcare industry.