The implementation of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act last July is the most important driver in the medical gases and equipment market, according to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR). Other factors propelling the market include an aging global population and the rapidly growing ancillary home healthcare market.

In 2011, the global medical gases and equipment market was calculated at $5.3 billion, according to TMR, and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% from 2012 to 2018, reaching its estimated value of $9 billion in 2018. 

Nitrous oxide followed oxygen in terms of market share in 2011, but those numbers are expected to drop with the increased availability of anesthetic drugs with high profit margins and the growing use of medical air as an alternative anesthetic gas. The global medical masks market is the fastest growing segment and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.5% from 2012 to 2018, because of high usage rate.

The medical gases and equipment market includes pure gases, gas mixtures, oxygen, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide-oxygen, nitrous oxide-oxygen, manifolds, and vacuum systems. The market is also segmented on the basis of geography into North America, Europe, Asia and rest of the world regions, according to TMR.